The 2nd ND Trip
by random-gleekV
Summary: It's time for another trip! Yes, New Directions go on yet another crazy trip to Winnipeg, Canada this time. It will be wild and funny and everything that ND is. Multi-chapter!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**

**This is technically a sequal to 'The ND Trip' but it's not manditory to read that first. There will only be a few references to it, but nothing big. **

* * *

It was a graduation trip. It was a victory trip. It was a last chance for togetherness trip. It was a the-last-one-was-fun-so-let's-do-it-again trip.

Either way, whatever you want to call it, the hyper members of New Direction sat in the airport, ready to go. The same airport where they had sat only a few months back. This time, their destination was different. This time, the atmosphere was different. This time, they were ready.

Like last time, money had been an issue. But not too big of an issue. After all, they were at the airport with bags packed and wide smiles. The cost problem this time was easier to overcome than the last. Again, Mr. Motta made a large contribution, but was more than glad to do it. Also, due to the group's outstanding win at Nationals, they had a lot more spending money. Another helping factor was that their accommodations were much cheaper than before, due to their...different destination. Add that to the small sum of money that each person had to pay, and they managed to get enough money. More than enough, actually. But a little extra just-in-case emergency money is always a good plan. Especially when dealing with this bunch of people.

The teens sat, anxiously waiting for their boarding call. They were like bottles of pop that had been shaken but wasn't opened yet. They were waiting to explode. But, under the strict eye of their three adult chaperones, they remained calm. On the outside, at least.

But their excitement now was nothing compared to their happiness shown when their learned of this trip. It was on the bus back to Lima from Chicago after a spectacular win at Nationals. Two of the three adults had stood up, quieted down everyone and blurted out the news. And the bus went wild. It was such amazing news that it almost seemed unbelievable. Another trip. Another chance. Another magical experience. It was happening.

So they packed their things. Then, two days after Graduation, they loaded into a bus and drove to the airport. All woes from college rejections was forgotten. All sadness from Graduation was forgotten. It was nothing but pure happiness. Pure togetherness. Pure glee.

So now they sat. Still they sat. Talking amongst each other happily. Last time when they had sat in the airport waiting, they were unsure and a bit overwhelmed. Now, they were totally eager. Shaking with excitement. No doubts or regrets. Well, one of them did. One of the teens hadn't been on the first trip so it was a bit scary for them. But not spooky scary. More like wild scary.

Getting to the seats they currently occupied had been a challenge of sorts. The bus they took at 7 AM was unusually loud for such an early time. But they were all hyper and ready. At the airport, they had to check in their luggage. There were over 25 large suitcases that were weighed and checked in. They they had to go through security. That wasn't hard. It was amusing. For the teens. The adults, embarrassed by their borderline rowdy behavior, questioned their sanity and wondered what on Earth possessed them to go on another trip with this group. Nevertheless, they made it through and even had some spare time to peruse the duty-free shops. Then they arrived at the waiting chairs outside the gate. The adults agreed that there's less of a chance of accident of losing people if they stayed put at the chairs. And that's how they got to be sitting in the chairs.

Then it happened. What they had all ben waiting for. For the last hour. Then came the call.

"Now boarding plane 477 to Winnipeg."

And before the announcement was finished, the sixteen teenagers had grabbed their bags and were on their feet, with excited gasps and screeches.

The three adults rolled their eyes, managed a smile and stood up too. Much too slow, in the opinion of the teens.

Then, clutching their boarding passes and passports, they walked to the airport lady and got on the plane.

* * *

**A/N**

**Hey guyssss! **

**So this is the first chapter of 'The 2nd ND Trip'. If you read about my choices to do this in the update chapter of 'The ND Trip' than Yay. But if you didn't and you randomly came across this, I'll summarize. I decided not to do an Italy sequal because it was too hard. So I picked this place. You'll find out more about where they go exactly. **

**Anyways, I hope you like this and I've already started to write the second chapter. :) **

**So thanks for reading this and to all my readers who encouraged me to write another story, I love you. **

**Stay pretty! :D**

**P.S. Winnipeg...THAT'S IN CANADA!**


	2. Chapter 2

Once in the plane, they all took their seats. They sat quietly during the safety presentation. Once the plane started rolling down the runway, gum was passed out yet again. Tina had been known for supplying it. When the plane was up in the air, they were super excited but calmed down to chat.

* * *

"Ever been in a plane, Joe?" Tina asked the boy.

"Yes I have. My family and I went to Europe a few years ago" Joe replied.

"Cool!" Tina smiled. "My family goes no where ever."

"So this is your first plane ride?" Joe asked.

"Oh, not at all. We went to New York for Nationals last year and a few months ago we went to Florida" Tina explained.

"Oh yes. Quinn told me all about your trip to Florida" Joe said.

"I heard my name" Quinn said, plopping down in the seat next to Tina. Joe had the window seat and Quinn had the isle.

"You told Joe about our trip to Florida" Tina said in answer to her remark.

Quinn nodded. "I did. Too bad you joined New Directions when you did, Joe. A few months earlier and you could have come with us."

Joe shrugged. "But I'm here now."

"Yes. You'll enjoy this" Tina said. "We are a riot."

"Sometimes a bit to literally" Quinn muttered and Tina snickered.

* * *

Rachel sat next to Mercedes and Kurt.

"This will be so fun" Mercedes smiled widely at Kurt and Rachel.

"The trip or the flight?" Kurt asked.

"Both."

"We haven't hung out in ages" Rachel said. "Just the three of us."

"True that" Mercedes nodded. "But now we are!" She clapped her hands and turned to Kurt, who was in the window seat. "So, Kurt, tell us. What's going down with you and Blaine? I mean, I know that with Grad, you two had been a bit shaky. And Rachel told me about Chandler. So spill because I really can't believe you haven't told me fully yet."

Kurt took a deep breath and glanced over at Blaine, in the row of seats across from them. Blaine was engrossed in a conversation with Rory. But Blaine caught Kurt's eye and gave him a smiled back then looked back at Mercedes and Rachel.

"We're fine now. More than fine; we're great. Chandler is no longer a problem for us."

"What was up with him and how could he cause so much damage?" Mercedes asked.

"It wasn't really Chandler who caused the damage. It was me" Kurt said slowly. This was the first time he had really admitted his fault for the incident out loud. "Blaine was...unsure about our future. And I guess I pushed all negative thoughts away and tried to focus on positive things. Like NYADA and New York. But what was positive for me was really negative for Blaine and he eventually kinda blocked me out. So I felt lonely and welcomed Chandler's texts in. He was sweet. But Blaine found out...you all know this part. Long story short, Blaine and I got counseling from Ms. Pillsbury and now we're fine. I just never want to lose him."

"Awwww" Mercedes cooed and hugged Kurt awkwardly. The seat belts prevented them to have a proper hug.

"Don't worry Kurt" Rachel said, patting his arm. "You and Blaine will be together forever. Believe me when I say this. You may not notice it, but we all see the love in his eyes when he looks at you."

Kurt blushed. "Thanks, guys."

* * *

"So what exactly are the plans for us when we go to Winnipeg?" Sugar asked Santana and Brittany.

"When you say Winnipeg, it sounds like 'win a pig'" Brittany giggled.

"I honestly don't know" Santana said, ignoring Brittany's silly remark and answering Sugar's question. "Mr. Schue has kept it totally hush-hush."

"Because he doesn't have a plan? Or because he doesn't want to tell us the plan?" Brittany asked.

Santana pondered this. "Probably the second option."

Sugar nodded. "Yeah he seems like a total planner. I'll bet he has one of those tacky schedule books where he writes what he does every five minutes."

The girls laughed.

"But seriously, I'm curious to see what we do. I mean, in Florida it was so obvious what we do: beach, amusement parks and shopping. But Winnipeg? What a lame place to go" Santana said.

"Yeah, I wanted to go somewhere exotic. Like Hawaii" Sugar said.

"Or New York!" Brittany said.

"We've already been there" Santana smiled.

"Yes. But it was so cool, we should go back again" Brittany said.

Santana was quiet. She was still on the edge about going to New York. Her mother had given her the approval but she still wasn't one hundred percent sure. Was it the right move?

"You know what? I don't care what we do. We're all together. So it'll be fun!" Brittany said, interrupting Santana's thoughts.

"Preach!" Sugar smiled.

* * *

"This is nice" Blaine smiled at Rory. Due to uneven amount of teens, Blaine and Rory sat just the two of them as did Mike and Artie so one person didn't have to sit alone.

"Tis" Rory nodded. They had lucked out because the seat next to him remained empty.

"So how did you get into singing?" Blaine asked.

Rory shrugged. "Started when I was a wee lad, I guess. I liked to sing and me and my brother used to do performances for our parents when we were really young. But aside from that, I never did it publicly."

"So when you auditioned for New Directions it was your first ever public performance?" Blaine asked, both impress and surprised.

"For anyone other than my family, yeah" Rory nodded.

Blaine nodded. "Wow, that's amazing. Really brave of you."

Rory smiled shyly. "Thanks. What about you?"

"How did I get into singing?" Blaine asked. "Well, it was kinda like you. Cooper and I used to sing all the time. But outside of home too. The park, the pool, school, on the street, wherever. We loved it. Then Coop went more into the acting stream and I still preferred singing. It didn't matter though, he moved out as soon as he could. But then there was a period for me when I didn't sing much in public. But when I went to Dalton, I joined the Warblers and went all out. Even sang at King's Island. Ever been there?"

Rory shook his head no.

"Well, it's cool. Anyways, that's pretty much my singing career" Blaine smiled.

"Why did you stop singing?" Rory asked quietly. He was almost afraid of the answer because when Blaine had mentioned it, his face turned sad and his eyes went a bit distant.

Blaine shrugged. "I had just come out and was getting bullied. Singing only added to the fire, as I learned."

"Sorry" Rory mumbled.

"Not your fault" Blaine said and shook his head as if to shake the bad memory out.

They sat quietly for a bit before Blaine broke the silence.

"Not that I want to see you go at all, but when are you heading back to Ireland?"

"A week after we return to Ohio" Rory answered sadly.

"Darn, that sucks" Blaine said. "You won't be back at McKinley next year?"

"Nope. I wish I was, though" Rory replied. "I want to apply for another visa. I miss my family and all, but I really love it here."

"Yeah. Well, we'll all miss you a lot." Blaine smiled. Rory smiled back.

* * *

"Thank goodness for Brittany" Artie said. Well, blurted.

"Wait, what?" Mike was confused and surprised by this. "Dude, she's way over you."

Artie blinked before he caught on. "Oh, no. I didn't mean it like that. I meant...well, it made sence in my head."

Mike smirked. "Would you care to explain it so it makes sence out here too?" He didn't try to hide the sarcasm in his voice.

"Well, I was thinking about New Directions and how we'd manage next year with a bunch of us graduating. I mean, all of you guys leaving had fantastic voices. Then I thought about dancing and how we'll ever manage without you. We took you and your mad 'pop and lock' skills for granted" Artie explained.

Mile laughed an prentended to be coy. "Oh, stop. You're making me blush."

"Then I remembered Brittany" Artie continued. "Thanks to her zero-point-zero grade average, she'll be with us next year. So we may not fail so hard after all in the dance catagory."

Mike nodded. "That's true. She'll be a big help."

"For sure!"

"But Tina can dance too" Mike pointed out. "And Blaine...sorta."

"Blaine can side-step" Artie laughed. "Kidding. Yeah, he's okay too."

"See? You guys will manage just fine. Besides, worst comes to worse, Mr. Schue can teach you. He's not half bad."

Artie laughed. "Yeah but he's not half good either."

* * *

"So we're going to Canada, right?" Puck asked, looking out the windows at the puffy white clouds.

"Yup" Sam nodded and flipped through some airplane magazine he found in the seat pocket in front of him.

"And Canada's to the north, right?" Puck asked.

"Wow, with knowledge like this, I'm shocked you almost didn't graduate" Sam rolled his eyes and put away the magazine.

"Cut the sarcasm" Puck punched Sam's arm.

Finn laughed. "He's right though. Do you even know the capitol of Canada?"

Puck paused. "Montreal?"

"Ottawa" Finn said.

"I have a question" Sam smiled. "Do Canadians live in igloos?"

Finn snorted. "No. Not at all."

"Do they have pet polar bears?" Puck piped up. "Or moose?"

"No" Finn shook his head.

"How do you know so much about Canada, Finn?" Sam asked.

"I have an Uncle who lives in Quebec City. So when I was twelve, my mom and I flew up to visit him" Finn told them. "It's just like America except colder. And they say 'eh'. It's cool."

"Eh? What's that?" Puck asked.

"It's like...cool shirt, eh?" Finn said. "We say 'huh' and Canadians say 'eh' but it means the same."

"Cool. You know who's from Canada?" Sam asked. "The Biebs!"

"Justin Bieber?" Puck smiled. "Oh yeah!"

"You're thinking about our JB Experience, right?" Sam grinned at Puck's smirk.

"Yes! It was sick!" Puck nodded.

Finn raised an eyebrow. "No regrets?"

Puck shook his head. "YOLO!"

"Don't ever say that again" Sam shook his head with a groan.

* * *

"William, I demand you to lean to the other direction. I refuse to have grease on my shoulder if you fall asleep" Sue said to Will.

Will rolled his eyes. "Sure thing, Sue." He had promised himself that he'd try to be friendly and not get into any fights with Sue on the trip.

"Isn't this exciting?" Emma asked, smiling at them. "Sue, you'll enjoy this. We had so much fun when we went to Florida. It's so great that you can join us."

Sue smiled a bit. "Well, I know whole bunch of Canadian jokes that I can't wait to use."

"Jokes or insults?" Will asked, eyes narrow.

"I honestly don't see a difference" Sue said bluntly.

"Hmm" Will muttered. "Anyways, I think it's great that we managed to get the kids on one more trip before they all split."

"For sure" Emma nodded. "I just hope they enjoy it. It's a bit of a change from Florida."

Will smiled. "They will. It'll be great."

"Those children will be happy no matter what" Sue said.

"Yes. And let's keep it that way, Sue" Will said.

"I am offended by that" Sue said. "Are you suggesting I make children sad?"

"No. I think he's just making sure that we focus on the kids' happiness on this trip" Emma jumped in.

Will shot Emma a thankful smile.

"I'll do my best" Sue said. Will couldn't find any doubt in her voice.

"Thank you, Sue."

* * *

"So Coach Sylvester is a the cheerleading coach?" Joe asked, keeping his voice down.

"Yup" Tina and Quinn nodded.

"What qualifies her for that?" Joe asked. "I mean, she's not good with students, doesn't look very active and I don't think she knows any of our names."

Tina chuckled. "These are the questions that haunt us."

Quinn gave a half smile. "Coach Sylvester has a winning record that speaks for itself. Take it from me. I was on the Cheerios and she really pushes you-"

"Literally, probably" Tina mumbled, making Joe laugh

"-and she has more brains that you think" Quinn said.

"She scares me" Joe said.

Tina highfived him. "Join the club."

Joe stared at Quinn. "Do you like her?"

"I don't hate her" Quinn said. "She helped us win Nationals, did she not?"

"I suppose" Joe said. "She could he nicer to us though."

"Well, Mr. Schue won't let her do anything to us. If there's one thing Coach Sylvester hates more than us, it's Mr. Schue" Quinn smiled.

"Mr. Schue's great!" Tina smiled. "He's so nice."

Joe nodded.

"Without him, Glee club would be a fail" Quinn said. "We kinda owe him our all."

* * *

"Hey Mercedes?" Rachel asked. Mercedes looked at her. "Kurt and I have a really important question to ask you."

"Okay" Mercedes said slowly.

"A really, really, really, really important question" Kurt said.

"Very important" Rachel added.

Mercedes' eyes widened. "Oh my! Who's preggers?"

"What? No one!" Rachel screeched.

"Okay, sorry" Mercedes smiled and gave a dramatic sigh of relief.

"Okay but seriously, for this question, we need your total honest opinion" Kurt said.

"Totally honest. For real" Rachel added.

"Ask me already! You guys are starting to scare me" Mercedes told them.

"Swear you'll be honest?" Kurt asked.

"I swear."

"No matter what?"

"Yes" Mercedes confirmed.

"Okay" Rachel took a deep breath. "Here goes. Me or Kurt: who's a better singer?"

Mercedes rolled her eyes. "Are you guys legit?"

Kurt and Rachel nodded.

"I thought this petty argument was over after 'Defying Gravity' two years ago" Mercedes said.

"No. We want to know" Rachel said.

"And we trust your fair judgement and opinion" Kurt said.

"Look, I'm not answering that. I can't deal if you two fight" Mercedes said.

"We won't" Kurt shook his head. "Rachel and I are besties. And just for fun, we'd like to know."

Rachel nodded along.

"For real?" Mercedes still looked unsure.

"Yes!" Rachel and Kurt shouted.

Mercedes shrugged. "Well, if you insist. You two really wanna know who I think is a better singer?"

They nodded.

"You sure?"

They nodded.

Mercedes smiled. "I think the better singer is...None of y'all. I'm better than you both."

* * *

"Animal print is ugly" Santana said firmly.

"What?" Sugar screeched. "No!"

Santana nodded. "The only people who can rock animal print is Mercedes and maybe Lady Hummel."

"Kurt?" Brittany asked and Santana nodded.

"What about me?" Sugar demanded and yanked up her pink shirt to reveal a cheetah print tank top.

"On you it looks weird" Santana said.

"I think it looks good on her" Brittany said.

"Thank you, Brittany" Sugar smiled at her then shot a dirty look at Santana.

"I'm just keeping it real" Santana shrugged nonchalantly.

"Yeah. Real mean" Sugar huffed and crossed her arms as if to protect her print shirt.

Santana sighed. "Look, I don't mean to be mean. I just think your love for animal print is a bit overboard. You go crazy so it looks stupid."

"Just tone it down" Brittany said, trying to help.

Sugar glanced down. "Alright. Thanks. I think. But you know what? I think you're just jealous that I can rock some zebra print and you can't."

Santana fake laughed. "Yeah right. I just don't like it."

"Then what do you like? What fashion statement do you like?" Sugar asked.

Santana answered right away. "Feathers. They're cool."

"I like rainbows!" Brittany said. "And glitter! Oooh! Glittery rainbows!"

Sugar bit her perfectly glossed lip. "I guess those are both okay."

"Feathers say 'exotic and magestic'" Santana smiled.

"Glitter and rainbows say 'happy days'" Brittany said.

Sugar smiled. "Animal prints say 'wild and bold'."

Santana smirked then lowered her voice. "You know one fashion style that will never be cool? Plaid. Just don't tell Berry."

* * *

"The best accents? Um...British, Australian and Irish" Blaine said.

"What about American?" Rory asked.

Blaine laughed. "We don't have an accent. Unless it's a country accent...Howdy parter!"

"Well, not to me" Rory said. "You guys are all complimenting me on my accent, but the thing is, you're the ones with the accent!"

"You don't notice your accent?" Blaine asked.

"Do you notice yours?"

Blaine smiled. "Touché, Rory Flanagan."

"Thank you, Blaine Anderson" Rory replied.

"I have a question. Are Irish and Scottish accents the same? The sorta sound the same to me" Blaine said.

"They're not the same" Rory shook his head. "Not really. But I have a question. Why do people from New Jersey have a different accent?"

Blaine grinned slyly. "Have you been watching Jersey Shore?"

Rory blushed, clearly embarrassed. "Brittany watches it sometimes. Besides, American television is quite interesting."

Blaine laughed. "Interesting and stupid. I watch Jersey Shore too. With Kurt only, though. We only watch it so we can laugh at the stupidness. It's ridiculous."

Rory nodded. "Aye."

* * *

"No offense or anything, but I'm surprised your dad let you go to dance school" Artie said.

"Me too" Mike said.

"I've only met him a couple of times, and he seems like the stern type" Artie said slowly.

"He is" Mike laughed. "But less so now. Since he became aware of my passion for dance, we've become much closer now. He asked me everyday how New Directions is doing and what songs we're working on. He never used to do that. Not even about football. But now he voluntarily engages conversation with me. It's great."

"Don't you find that a bit annoying?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your parents talking to you. Don't you find that kinda creepy?" Artie asked.

"No...Why, do you?"

"Yes. My mom and dad used to do that all the time. Talk to me and pretend to be my friend. It got annoying. But since I joined New Directions and made friends who aren't in the AV club, they've eased up a bit. But they still try to do things like friend me online and laugh at jokes. I drew the line at the friend requests. I mean, I'm a teenage guy! I'm not going to have heart-to-heart conversations with my parents about my feelings or that funny thing that happened in class" Artie explained with a half smile.

Mike laughed a bit. "I remember at Christmas two years ago you told us that the only thing you wanted for Christmas was for your parents to stop sending you friend requests."

Artie chuckled. "Yup."

"Well, so far, I enjoy my parents' involvement in my life" Mike smiled.

Artie gave him a dark look. "Just you wait." Then he laughed.

* * *

"Hey Finn, remember Coach Tanaka?" Puck laughed.

Finn laughed. "He was crazy!"

"Worst coach ever" Puck added, laughing.

"Wait, wait! Who's Coach Tanaka?" Sam asked.

"Oh yeah, you came the year we got Beiste. Coach Tanaka was our old football coach. He was stupid, moody and rode a golf cart because he was too lazy to walk" Finn said.

"Plus he wore really short shorts. Like shorter than Santana's shortest shorts, probably" Puck added.

"And that weird fanny-pack he wore" Finn continued while Sam laughed hysterically. "I wonder what he kept in that?"

Puck smirked. "I asked him."

Finn's eyes widened and Sam stopped laughing so he could hear. "You did?"

Puck nodded. "And you know what he told me? Children's souls. Then he told me to do fifty more pushups or he'll take mine."

Finn laughed. "He's so stupid."

Puck rolled his eyes. "I know right! He can't take my soul!"

"Too bad we moved when we did. He sounds like a hoot!" Sam laughed.

"He was" Finn nodded with a chuckle.

* * *

"We're almost there" Emma said happily. "I haven't been to Canada in ages. I think the last time I went was when I was twenty seven. Me and my best friend went there to do some shopping. It was fun!"

"Canada is stupid. They think they're so much better than us good old Americans with their beavers and their syrup and their politeness" Sue said.

"That's not a good attitude" Will frowned. "And I think Canadians are cool."

"Yes. They're cool. Because they live in ten meters of snow" Sue nodded firmly.

"Snow is so pretty" Emma said with a large smile.

"Look, Sue, whatever your opinion of Canadians may be, I suggest you keep a positive attitude for this trip" Will demanded.

"Oh, okay. Don't get you're knickers in a twist" Sue said. "Besides, I do enjoy some syrup on a stack of warm pancakes."

"I prefer waffles" Emma said. "They store syrup neatly in their little pockets."

"You're like Jean" Sue said, thinking of her sister. "We used to argue about pancakes and waffles and which one we should make. But in the end, we always made waffles."

Will smiled. Jean, rest her soul, was one of the few things that turned Sue from snarling monster to kind-hearted woman in a matter of seconds.

"Too bad we aren't going to the CN Tower" Emma said. "The kids would love that."

"I know. But I think they'll like what we have planned" Will said. "We should be arriving soon. Just think, right below us is Canada!"

"Joy" Sue muttered, but her sarcasm couldn't be heard over the announcement.

"Hello passengers, this is your Captain speaking. We have started making our decent and will be arriving in twenty minutes."

Will smiled and looked past Sue and out the window where green squares of land could be seen.

* * *

They chatted it up for the next while until things were visible on land and they all pushed closer to the window to get a better view.

Canada.

They were here.

* * *

**A/N**

**Hello my pretties!**

**What you just read was random chatter on the plane. Yay. **

**Here's a funny story. You're gonna laugh. I had already finished this chapter and had started writing Chapter 3 when I was gonna have Rory say something and then I realized that I forgot Rory in Chapter 2! Lol so after I swore under my breath, I went back and fixed it. Hahah. I used to have Blaine, Mike and Artie sitting together but I split them up fit in Rory. LOLOLOL.**

**I'd like to issue a formal apology for the rest of the story. I'm sorry if Sue's line are pathetic. It's hard to write clever Sue lines. So I'm sorry if they suck royal hippogriff. :P But I do try so please bear with me. **

**To everyone who favourited and alerted this story, I love you. :)**

**To all my reviewers, I also love you. **

**Oh and one more thing. ND is headed to Canada. So I'll probs play with sterotypes a bit. I already did in this chapter above when Sam, Finn and Puck were talking and as well with Sue, Will and Emma. However, if you are Canadian, please don't be offended. I AM CANADIAN TOO! So technically, I'm just poking fun at myself. I mean no harm at all. Canada is cool! **


	3. Chapter 3

They exited the plane and got their luggage, which, to the adult's surprise, was quite painless and calm.

"Guys, we're in a foreign country!" Sam smiled. They were waiting for Mr. Schue to get the bus.

"I hardly consider this is foreign" Quinn rolled her eyes.

Will walked up behind them and clapped his hands to get their attention.

"Alright guys, the bus I requested is here so grab your things and let's go" he said. They did and then they walked to the doors.

"First step on Canadian land!" Puck announced loudly as he stepped out of the tiled airport and on to the road.

"That's great" Will said, but didn't mean it. "Now pay attention, there are cars coming."

They walked across one airport pickup road and on to another, to find a large bus, not unlike the coach bus they had driven all around Florida.

They loaded up the luggage, filed on and took their seats. Artie was lifted up into the bus.

"Check it out, Mr. Schue!" Mercedes said. She pointed to the driver of the bus. He was an older fellow with graying hair and a thick mustache. "We get a driver this time!"

Will chuckled lightly. "For this ride, yes."

Once they were all seated, the bus was started and they were on the road.

"How long is this ride going to be?" Rachel asked Ms. Pillsbury.

"Almost two hours" she replied, glancing at her watch. It was almost noon.

"And before you ask, we'll get food when we arrive" Will said.

The teens talked amongst themselves and looked out the bus' windows as the bus drove on.

"Very exciting scenery" Kurt commented sarcastically. The scenery was actually very boring. It was mostly farm land and marshes.

"Well" Rachel began, adopting her know-it-all tone. "Manitoba isn't technically a prairie provence, like it's flat neighbor Saskatchewan, but it does do a lot of farming in areas that aren't wet, like in the west."

"Thanks, Encyclopedia Berry" Tina giggled.

Rachel beamed. "You're very welcome!"

Joe raised his hand. "Mr. Schuester? Can you tell us about where we're going?"

Will thought about it. "I'll tell you a bit."

The teens all quieted down and looked at him expectantly.

"We landed in Winnipeg, but where we're headed isn't in Winnipeg. It's a bit north, but it's on Lake Winnipeg. It's a small cottage area called Victoria Beach. It's very quaint. I think you'll like it a lot" Will smiled.

"Cottage?" Kurt looked scared. "We're staying in a cottage? For nine days?"

"What's wrong with that?" Finn asked.

"Kurt Hummel does not do cottages" he replied.

"Oh, you'll live. It's very nice" Emma said gently.

Blaine snickered. "When Kurt hears 'cottage' he thinks 'camp'."

"Oh, this is nothing like a camp" Will shook his head. "Don't worry, you'll like it."

Kurt frowned a bit, but didn't say anything. There was no turning back now.

* * *

"Guys, guys, look up ahead!" Will said pointing in the direction the bus was driving. "See?"

They all looked and saw a large parking lot with many cars parked in it. But what their teacher was pointing to was a large metal archway that went over the road. On the arch it said 'VICTORIA BEACH'.

"We're here!" Rachel yelled excitedly and they all grinned and rushed to stand up.

"Sit down" Will said, realizing that they might in fact trample each other in the process of getting off the bus.

"Listen here" he said. "Before you get off, make sure you have all your things. Don't leave anything on the bus because if you do, you won't get it back."

"Are we not coming back on the bus ever?" Rory asked.

Will shook his head. "Nope."

"Are we getting a different bus?" Artie asked.

Will shook his head again. "Nope."

"Then how will we get around?" Sugar asked. "Limo?"

"No. There's a different way. Come outside and you'll see" Will said with a mischievous grin. Then he hopped off the bus.

The teens grabbed their things and rushed off, eager to see what this form of transportation is. But when they got off and unloaded their luggage, all they saw were cars. But they were all too small to hold them all at once.

Four blue and orange vans pulled up. They all had a Taxi sign on them.

"Taxi?" Quinn asked. "We're taking taxis the whole time?"

Sue shook her head. "No, we're not. These ugly painted vans will just take us to our cottage."

"I'm so confused" Sam muttered to Mercedes.

"We all are" she replied.

Nevertheless, they split into groups. Taxi 1 held Mercedes, Kurt, Blaine, Finn and Rachel. Taxi 2 held Puck, Artie, Mike, Tina and Sam. Taxi 3 held Sugar, Rory, Santana, Brittany, Joe and Quinn. Taxi 4 held Sue, Emma and Will.

"Is it okay if six of them go in one?" Will asked Taxi 3's driver.

He nodded. "It's only a short drive."

"Britt can sit on my lap" Santana offered with a sultry grin.

Will looked like he was going to protest, but he stayed quiet and walked to his Taxi, after shooting Santana and Brittany a look.

They piled into the taxis. It was a bit of a tight squeeze, but they managed.

"Where are you guys from?" the taxi driver asked the members of Taxi 1.

"Lima, Ohio" Blaine answered. He was sitting in the passenger seat.

"Really? And what brings you here?"

Blaine shrugged. "Group trip."

The driver nodded and didn't say anything more.

They looked out the window as they drove. They passed an array of trees and cottages hidden in them every once and a while. The road was unpaved and bumpy.

"This looks like a forest" Mercedes said.

"This looks like a camp" Kurt grumbled.

Finally the taxi stopped at a small opening of trees. The only way to differentiate that opening with others was the microwave-sized rock that was painted with the address. That sat by the side of the road and was surrounded by small purple flowers.

"Looks like we're here" Finn said and hopped out of the van's door. The others from the other taxis were doing the same.

"Luggage first, then you can explore" Will instructed them sternly. He could see how excited they were to wonder around.

They sighed and grabbed their bags. When they were all set and the Taxi vans drove off, they all made a mad dash up the path way to the larger clearing where the cottage was. The clearing was large, but no one took notice of that because they were focused on the cottage. And the smaller mini-cottage next to it, separated by a wooden deck.

"This?" Santana was the first one to speak. The rest were still gawking at it.

The cottage was covered with long shingles that were painted a soft pink and had a green roof that was dirty with leaves and small branches. The walls weren't exactly clean either. One side was covered with many small winged bugs.

The deck was clean and had a swinging bench on it.

Across the deck was a smaller cottage. It had the same colour scheme.

"It's this great?" Will asked, walking up to where the teens stood. He had a suitcase in one hand and the other arm was slung casually over Ms. Pillsbury's shoulder. She was smiling and gazing at the cottage.

"How did we get downgraded from a gorgeous condo in sunny Florida to a dinky cottage in a forest in Canada?" Sugar asked.

"Oh, it's not that bad" Sue said and strode past them and up on the deck.

"Not that bad?" Rachel mouthed to Kurt, who looked like he'd seen a ghost. He silently nodded.

"Well come on in!" Emma called to them.

"At least we're together?" Quinn offered in hopes to make the situation better. They murmured in agreeance and picked up their luggage. They walked across the lush grass to the deck and walked up.

Will pulled the sliding door open. "Welcome to your new home...for the next nine day, at least!"

* * *

**A/N**

**Hello again! Yes, two chapters! Wooot!**

**So now that they've arrived, I can tell you about their place. Victoria Beach is a real place. My family has a cottage there so with the last two years being an exception, I've been there every year of my life. So I know the place really well. It's lovely. Has anyone been there?**

**In regards to one question I got in a review, the couples are as following: Klaine, Finchel, Samcedes, Wemma, Chang-chang, Brittana and Sory (Sugar and Rory). Joe and Quinn are 'friends'. Just like in the show. I know I had Quinn and Rory date in the first story but I like Fabhart more, so just pretend Quory never happened. Sorry if you liked them. But I want this to stay mostly canon. **

**Enjoy and I hope to get more chapters up soon. It's vaycay so I have plenty of writing time. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

The inside of the cottage was better than any of the teens expected. The roof was all wood and had three large fans on it. The floor was tiled in the eating area, kitchen and bathroom, carpeted in the large sitting room and hardwood in the three bedrooms. There was a large table to eat at, a fully equipped kitchen, three couches, five arm chairs and a large brick fireplace.

"This is so cool!" Sugar yelled. All sadness from two minutes ago when they first saw the cottage was gone.

"See? What did we tell you?" Will grinned.

"What do you think, Kurt?" Mercedes asked, poking Kurt.

Kurt sighed. "Well, the decor is awful. But it's not so bad."

Will clapped his hands. "Okay. So we have just a few rules that must be obeyed."

"Rule number one" Sue said. She turned and pointed out the door to the smaller cottage thing across the deck. "See that? It's the bunk house. And under no circumstances shall you enter it."

"What's in there?" Brittany asked.

"That's where we will sleep" Emma told the teens. "And by 'we' I mean Mr. Schuester, Coach Sylvester and myself."

"Rule number two" Will said. "This is a rental cottage. So like the condos in Florida, be careful and neat. So no shoes on the carpet and no spilling food. Got it?"

The teens nodded.

"Where will we be sleeping?" Finn asked.

Will gave a half smile. "That brings us to rule number three. You all brought sleeping bags so you'll be sleeping here in the sitting room."

It was an open space that connected to the kitchen, entry and eating room and the bedrooms.

"All of us?" Quinn asked.

Will nodded. "Yes. Rule number three is that everything is kept appropriate at all times. We trust you guys to stay in the same area without any trouble. After all, you're basically adults."

"Mr. Schue. Do you really think we'd just get it on with everyone else right there?" Puck asked with a smirk.

"No. I don't" Will admitted. "I'm just not taking any chances."

"Well, it's almost one thirty and I know you must be hungry so here's what we'll do" Emma said, looking at her watch then back up at the group. "You kids can unpack and set up and look around. Coach Sylvester and I will do the same in the bunk house and Mr. Schue will see what's in the kitchen and make some food for us."

"Sound good?" Will asked.

"Yes!" The teens all nodded.

And with that, they all began moving. Emma and Sue grabbed the adults' suitcases and dragged them outside, across the deck and into the bunk house. Will went into the kitchen and began opening cupboards.

"Okay gang!" Blaine said happily. "Let's set up!"

They located their luggage and dug out their sleeping bags. The luggage was stored in two of the bedrooms; girls' in one and boys' in the other.

"How shall we arrange this?" Tina asked, unrolling her black sleeping bag on the floor.

"Girls on one side and guys on the other?" Rachel suggested.

"Sure. And why don't we just build a wall in between sides too?" Santana retorted.

"We don't need a plan" Mercedes said. "Just pick who you'd be comfortable surrounding yourself with for many nights."

"Okay but how about we put them in a circle so we can still talk with everyone?" Kurt suggested.

"Yes! Good idea!" Mercedes nodded and they did just that. After fifteen minutes of rearranging and shuffling, they were done. The circle was complete. It went in this order: Rachel, Finn, Quinn, Joe, Rory, Sugar, Santana, Brittany, Mercedes, Sam, Puck, Artie, Tina, Mike, Blaine, Kurt and back to Rachel.

"This is cozy" Brittany smiled, her head resting in her hands. They all lay down in the circle.

"Indeed" Quinn said.

They were quiet for a moment.

Until a loud grumbling sound was heard.

"Sorry!" Finn laughed, patting his stomach.

"Was that your stomach grumbling?" Mike asked, laughing.

Finn nodded but was laughing too hard to speak.

"I thought that was thunder!" Quinn giggled.

"Isn't it super awkward when your stomach just starts making noises in class?" Tina asked.

"Yes!" Rachel said. "It happens when I don't eat my mid morning granola bar!"

"It happens when I don't have time for breakfast" Tina said. "Then it's so awkward because we're all just sitting there in class doing math or something and it just happens" Tina laughed. "I swear everyone can hear it!"

They laughed.

"Guys. Guys. Why are we talking about this even?" Mercedes laughed.

"Finn's stomach brought it on!" Rachel yelled, poking Finn.

"Did you know that when your stomach makes that sound, it's trying to digest food but since there's no food in it, it makes that sound?" Kurt asked.

"How do you even know that?" Rory asked.

Kurt shrugged. "TV."

Puck sat up. "Speaking of TV, let's see what's on!" He walked over to where the small TV was. He grabbed the remote off the top of it and returned to his sleeping bag. He pressed the power button and the screen lit up.

Puck started flicking through the channels. All six of them.

"Six? Six channels total?" Sam asked in doubt.

"All the rest is fuzzy" Joe stated, watching the fuzz.

"Well, are the six channels any decent?" Blaine asked. "Maybe they're six really good channels so it doesn't matter?"

"News. News. Oooh, sports! Weather. Infomercial. And some kiddie show" Puck said.

"Well infomercials can be fun" Quinn said.

"So can kiddie shows" Artie smiled. "Do you know how many inappropriate jokes are in those that little kids don't catch?"

"I'm almost afraid to ask this, but how do you know that?" Joe asked with a smirk.

Artie smiled. "I have a little cousin. She's five and one day I babysat her and I watched a bunch of stupid shows with her. I almost cried laughing because it was so dirty and yet so innocent."

Puck turned off the TV and when the laugher died down, the cottage was silent except for Mr. Schuester in the kitchen humming as he cooked.

* * *

"Hey. Hey everyone, listen up!" Tina said. She clinked her fork against the plate but it didn't do much against the loud chatter. Lunch was being eaten and they were sitting all around the room because the table couldn't sit them all.

Joe heard her and whistled loudly. The room went quiet.

"Thanks Joe!" Tina smiled at him. "Okay guys. I have something really serious to ask."

"Yes. I'll give you a makeover!" Kurt grinned and clapped his hands.

"What? No" Tina shook her head but smiled at Kurt. "I need you guys to all promise me something. I know this is our last trip all together. I know this may be the last time we see each other for a while. I know it all. I also know that we love each other and distance is just space that separates us. I know that in twenty years when we have reunions, we'll be happy and talk about trips like this. So here's what I'm asking. As you can see by the tears running down my face, I'm emotional. And I can see that many of you are too. So to prevent any of this on what shall be the coolest, funnest trip ever, I want us to not mention that this our last trip. Don't bring it up at all. Don't bring up Grad or next year or collage or anything. Don't even think about it. Let's just live in the moment and enjoy it. No sadness, okay?"

Rachel, who had tears in her eyes, was the first to agree. "I promise."

Everyone else nodded and vowed the same.

Tina gave a watery smile. "Thank you." Then she sat down.

The next five minutes of lunch consisted of silence. They were all too sad to even speak. What Tina said was so true. They all just stared at their macaroni and ate in silence.

Sue broke the silence first. "It's too quiet. Even Porcelain's loud outfit is quiet. Get it? That was a pun."

They smiled a bit. That was probably's Sue's attempt at being nice.

"Well" Will smiled, patting his stomach. "That was a great plate of pasta and I am full."

They laughed. Mr. Schue had made some macaroni. It was all he could find in the kitchen that would serve all of them.

"Now what?" Rory asked. They had all finished their pasta too.

"Yeah, what do we do now?" Sugar asked.

"There's a lot to do here" Emma said. "In fact, you guys could go to the beach."

"Where is it?" Blaine asked.

Emma smiled. "Right down there. It's our backyard!" She pointed out the window in the opposite direction of the road. Off the deck was a small trail that led into large trees. A small sliver of a water line could be seen on the horizon. It blended in with the bright blue sky.

"A backyard beach?" Rachel asked. "So cool!"

"Let's go to the beach right now!" Mercedes said.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Will said. "Just listen to me. How about you save the beach for tomorrow and instead, we all go down out to Town."

"Town?" Santana asked, her face lighting up. "Like real civilization?"

Will shook his head. "No. But it's still really cool."

"What in this Town?" Quinn asked.

"What isn't there! There's a park, tennis courts, a field, a library, a bakery, a convenience store and a restaurant. It's great!" Will said.

"Tennis?" Rachel asked brightly.

"Yes, tennis" Sue said. "I happen to be a world class Tennis player. Won a few awards, no big deal."

"So she does play sports after all?" Joe whispered to Quinn and Tina.

"Probably not" Tina snickered.

"Anyways, I'd like for you guys to come and help carry groceries. We need to buy a lot thanks to our lack of supplies" Will said, his eyes flickering to the kitchen. "Plus, you can look around. Get a feel for good old Victoria Beach!"

The teens looked at each other.

"Yeah okay. I guess we can go do that" Finn said and they all nodded.

"I have a question" Puck said, raising his hand.

"Yes?" Emma nodded at him.

"Are lots of hot Canadian babes here?" Puck grinned.

"Oh, Puck" Will shook his head. "Sometimes I worry about you."

They laughed.

"Now, come on outside and see our wheels!" Will said and they all stood up.

"Oooh maybe a cool Italian sports car?" Sugar asked.

They raced to the screen door and slid it open. They bounded down the deck stairs and on to the lawn that was still trampled flat in areas from their luggage.

"Nope!" Emma shook her head. "Even better!"

Will walked over to a rusty red shed. He pulled out a key from his pocket and unlocked it. He opened the doors.

"Behold! There's one for each of you!" Will grinned and stepped aside so they could all peer in.

They all paused when their eyes landed on what was in the shed.

"Bicycles?" Mike gasped.

* * *

**A/N**

**Hiya! **

**I don't really have much to say here. I may be making VB sound lame and make their cottage sound really awful, but's it's all very nice. Victoria Beach is so pretty and fun and the cottages are all rustic and nice. So don't think this will be a horrible trip for them.**

**Oh, and about the bikes. ND seems like a very lazy bunch of people. I can't see them playing sports and stuff in their free time so they'll put up a fight about the bikes, which is the most popular form of transportation in VB (true story). So to the reviwer who guessed boats, ****_MCAlovessamcedes7_****, wrong. But, you reminded me to write a chapter with boats so thank you and stay tuned! :D **

**Thanks to all my readers and reviwers. I love ya! And keep those reviews coming because I love them and I seriously take any idea you give me into consideration. So TTYL! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

"You have got to be kidding me" Sugar said.

"What? What's wrong with bikes?" Will asked, sounding defensive.

"Bike are so ten years ago" Santana commented, crossing her arms.

"Oh, you guys are just being dramatic!" Emma said lightly.

"I don't even think we all know how to ride a bike" Rachel said. She turned to Kurt. "Can you ride a bike, Kurt?"

Kurt gave a half smile. "My dad taught me. When I was six. So yes, but I probably forget how."

"Nonsense" Puck waved his hand. "You can't forget how to ride a bike. It's like reading and writing. You never forget how."

"I forgot how to write once" Brittany smiled proudly.

"Well what about Artie?" Mercedes asked. "How will he get around?"

Will didn't seem fazed by this. "We have two options for Artie."

"And I choose option two" Artie smiled.

"Wait. You knew about the bikes beforehand?" Tina asked.

Artie grinned. "Yeah. Mr. Schue told me back in Ohio that we'd be riding bikes so I'd be prepared. But he made me promise not to spoil it for you guys."

"Wow. Why do you gotta be so loyal?" Santana huffed. "Would it kill you to not be a goody-two shoes once in a while? Or give a hint at least?"

Artie ignored that. "Anyways, Mr. Schue, I choose option two. Less work...for me at least."

"What were the options?" Blaine asked, curious as ever.

"Well, I told him that we could skip bikes all together and you guys could just walk, but the rocky and sometimes uphill terrain may be hard to maneuver in his chair or option two was that he sits in this attachment and one of you can pull him on your bike" Will said. He pointed to the corner of the shed where a little two wheeled attachment sat. It was big enough for Artie to sit in.

"I'll pull you" Finn offered.

"Thanks, man" Artie smiled and gave Finn props.

"So pick your bikes!" Sue said.

They all realized that maybe bikes weren't so bad and it was the best form of transportation so one by one, they went in and grabbed a bike.

They had to trade bikes to accommodate the different seat heights. Finally, they all had a bike.

"What about helmets? Safety first, right?" Rachel asked. "I can't afford an injury."

Quinn nodded.

"No!" Kurt said. "I refuse to have helmet hair!"

"Kurt, relax" Will said. "You guys are old enough to ride a bike without a helmet. Unless you really want one, you don't need them."

"Come on, you babies!" Sue called as she peddled circles around on the grass.

"Coach Sylvester, are you an avid biker?" Joe asked her, trying to strike up conversation.

"As a matter of fact, Dreads, I am. I won the Tour DeFrance two years in a row" Sue stated.

"Really?" Joe asked, sounding surprised.

Sue's eyes narrowed. "You doubt me?"

"Hey, Joe, can you help me with something?" Quinn called.

Joe hurried over, glad to get away from Coach Sylvester.

"Sure. What do you need?" Joe asked Quinn.

Quinn smiled. "Oh, nothing. I overheard your conversation with Coach Sylvester and thought you needed an escape."

Joe grinned. "Thank you so much!"

"Okay is everyone ready?" Will asked loudly.

The chatter stopped.

"Yes" Sam nodded.

"Then off you go!" Will said, nodding toward the road.

"Wait! How do we get there?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, knowing us, we'd get lost" Mercedes said.

"Okay, ride on the road for about ten minutes. If you get to a fork in the road, always choose the left road. When you hear the sound of kids screaming and you see the sand or park ahead, take the right road and you'll be there!" Will told them.

"And ride together and safely!" Emma instructed. "And don't hog the road."

"We'll try to keep up with you, though" Will said.

And with that, the teens rode off.

* * *

They arrived at the park twenty minutes later. Twice they had to stop and wait for people to catch up. One time Tina fell off her bike. And once Rory crashed into Rachel's bike. But they made it.

"Pretty uneventful ride, huh?" Puck laughed.

"Hopefully we'll be able to ride somewhere like normal people one day" Kurt laughed.

"This place looks pretty cool" Sam said, looking around Town.

"Not much of a Town" Finn commented.

"I like it" Blaine said. "It's cute!"

"Quaint" Quinn added.

They walked their bikes over to a spot under a large tree and left them there in a heap.

"No one will steal these, right?" Mercedes asked.

"Probably not" Rachel said. "Besides, we won't go too far."

"I guess" Mercedes shrugged.

Then they just stopped and looked around. In front of them was a large play ground structure. There were about ten little kids climbing all over it and running around in the sand.

"Looks fun!" Finn smiled. He loved parks even if he was too old for them.

To their right were six large tennis courts. They were all occupied and the constant sound of a tennis ball being hit was heard.

"Pretty neat, right?" Will asked, peddling up to where they stood.

"Yeah!" Blaine grinned.

"Well come on over this way, okay? You can leave your bikes" Will said. He began riding down the path toward two buildings.

The teens nodded and walked down through the trees.

The two buildings were older looking. The one on the left was smaller.

"That's a bakery" Emma told them when she walked up to them. "Mr. Schue tells me that their goods are, well, good!"

"Let's go in!" Santana shouted and they were all about to run into the store.

"Woah! Slow down there!" Will smiled and held his arm out to stop them. "I have a surprise for you guys. But that'll be ruined if you go in there."

"What is it?" Sugar asked hopping up and down.

Will gave a sly smile. "Not telling. But I promise you'll love them!"

"Are they kittens?" Brittany asked with wide eyes.

"No" Emma shook her head and shuddered at the thought of cat hair all over the place.

"I'm allergic to cats" Blaine piped up.

"I'm allergic to raw egg" Mercedes smiled.

Finn grinned "Guess what I'm allergic to? I'm allergic to-"

"Uh, guys? Can I interrupt your weird allergy stories for a moment?" Will asked, half amused and half disgusted.

They were all silent.

"Look, you guys can hang out at the park or go into the store or walk around for a bit" Will said. "In about a few hours, meet back here to help carry groceries. Okay?"

They nodded.

"Have fun" Emma said as they ran back to the park.

"And don't kill each other" Sue called after them.

* * *

"Let's play Grounders!" Sam shouted.

"Isn't that the game where you close your eyes?" Puck said.

"Sounds dangerous" Quinn frowned. She's been extra careful since her accident.

"Only if you walk off an edge" Finn said. "But we'll make sure you don't."

"You can trust us" Mercedes said, swinging on one of the four swings.

Quinn shrugged. "Okay."

"I'll be judge" Artie said. "Nothing gets past me."

"Is that because you have four eyes?" Brittany asked, using her hands to make glasses on her face to mock Artie.

"Hilarious" Artie rolled his eyes.

"Alright, let's play! One, two, three, not It!" Rachel yelled.

"Not It!" They all called at the same time.

"Who was last?" Tina asked Artie.

"Joe" Artie answered.

"Okay go over there by the swirly ladder thing and count to ten" Puck said and the rest of them all climbed on to the play ground.

"Grounders?" Joe called after he had counted and they were ready.

"Nope" Artie shook his head.

Joe took a small step and used his hands to feel around him for something to hold on to as he continued to take small steps.

Joe was It for another ten minutes before he had managed to corner Mike on the stairs. Joe slowly moved down the stairs so Mike had no choice but to take a chance and run across the sand and try to leap on to bottom of the slide.

But as soon as Mike's shoe hit the sand, Joe heard it.

"Grounders!" Joe yelled with a smirk. His eyes were still shut.

"Mike!" Artie called. "You're caught!"

Mike swore but smiled and accepted defeat.

Joe opened his eyes and walked over to the slide. He slid down then walked over and climbed on the ladder. He didn't climb all the way up, though.

The park was large and busy but once the large group of teens had arrived, most of the little kids left so they pretty much had the park to themselves.

Mike counted to ten then slowly walked around with his eyes shut.

"You'll never catch me, Mikey!" Sam called with a grin as he leapt over a rail. "I'm too ninja!"

Then he fell.

* * *

"Let's walk down to that place" Kurt suggested, pointing to a white and blue building down the small hill, away from the park. Their game of Grounders went on for a while until Rachel got bored and Rory wanted to give up because he couldn't catch anyone.

Now they were just sitting around, relaxing and enjoying the soft breeze. It was really sunny so they sat in the shade.

"What is that?" Santana asked.

"I dunno. Maybe the library? Mr. Schuester said there was one" Kurt said.

"It's summer. No school. Therefore, no reading either" Sugar said, crossing her arms.

"Let's go look at least" Kurt pleaded. He was wearing white skinny jeans and he didn't want to get grass stains on them so he wanted to go walk around.

"Later" Santana said, closing her eyes as she lay on the grass.

"Blaine, you'll come with me, right?" Kurt asked, giving his best pleading eyes.

"Sure" Blaine smiled.

"Can I come too? Or am I intruding on something?" Rachel asked smirked as she spoke.

"Nope! The more the merrier!" Kurt smiled.

"That's my motto too!" Puck grinned with a sultry look.

"Ew" Tina commented. She stood up too. "I'm coming too!"

So Kurt, Blaine, Rachel, Tina, Sam and Artie walked down to the building, leaving everyone else on the grass.

"It's a restaurant!" Sam exclaimed when they went in.

"Oh, cool!" Rachel smiled.

"It's so 50's" Kurt beamed and looked around.

"Look, it's got an upstairs area too!" Blaine pointed up.

"It serves all three meals here" Tina said, reading a menu.

"And ice cream!" Artie smiled like a child as he looked at the tubs of ice cream behind the glass.

"Well, it's too early to have ice cream now" Rachel said. "But maybe we can come back here after dinner?"

"Yeah!" Blaine nodded.

They left the restaurant, which was called Moonlight Inn.

"Classy name" Kurt commented as they left.

"This little building must be the library" Tina said, looking at the small white building that was to the left of Moonlight Inn.

"Yes" Rachel nodded and pointed to the small sign. "But it's closed."

Kurt shrugged and they walked back to the rest of their friends.

"How was the library?" Finn asked but he didn't care at all.

"It was closed" Blaine said. "But the super cool 50's restaurant with the classy name wasn't!"

"It had a jukebox!" Kurt added.

"Yay" Finn said, making jazz hands but, again, he didn't care at all.

"Well come on, we have to meet Mr. Schue and them now" Tina said, pulling Mike to his feet.

The lazy ones reluctantly got up and they walked back to the store and bakery. Coach Sylvester and Ms. Pillsbury were outside waiting for them.

* * *

**A/N**

**Hiya! **

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**That's all I have to say.**

**Thanks to all my readers and reviewers. **

**I love you like Blaine loves bow-ties.**

**Wow...what a cheesy line.**

**Anyhoo, I'll try to get another chapter up by Monday. Hopefully.**

**Byee! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

Will walked out of the bakery with a large brown paper bag in his left hand. He was whistling and had a large grin that got even wider when we saw all the teens waiting for him.

"Is that our surprise?" Sam asked, eyeing the bag.

"Yes. So no peeking. And to make sure that doesn't happen, I'm giving the bag to Coach Sylvester" Will said and handed the bag to Sue.

"Oh joy" Sue commented but took the bag anyways. Will shot her a look.

"Now let's go into the store. We have a lot of stuff to get" Emma said. She clapped her hands. "Yay shopping!"

Will dug out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. "I have a list here!"

They walked up the stairs and into the store. It was small but had everything from candy to movies to birthday cards.

"Oooh look! Fire colouring stuff!" Mercedes said.

"What?" Kurt and Sam asked

Mercedes smiled. "It's this stuff you put in your fire to make it and the smoke change colours."

"Can we get it, Mr. Schue?" Sam asked eagerly.

"No. Now please don't distract me, I'm counting pizzas" Will said, waving them away.

* * *

When they left the store, they had many bags of food. Their haul included ten frozen pizzas, five bags of pasta, six loaves of bread, twenty bottles of water, three milk bags, three juice jugs, two bags of candy and much more.

"This won't last us forever and their stock isn't exactly fresh food" Will said. "But there's a real store just outside of the Victoria Beach gates that I'll ride to tomorrow. But I'll need Artie's carriage."

"Sure thing" Artie nodded. "I think I can manage with my wheel chair."

"Thanks. Now, each of you take a bag" Will said as they walked back to where the teens had left their bikes. They all took a bag. Artie took four because he could hold them in his carriage.

"Here, Sue" Will said and handed her a bag containing juice.

"William, I am pregnant. I can't carry that!" Sue scolded.

"Just put it on the handle of your bike" Will insisted.

"Absolutely not" Sue firmly said.

Will didn't even bother arguing.

"I'll take it" Mike said. "It'll balance out my bike because the pasta I have now is making it lean to one side."

"Thank you, Mike" Will said.

The teens all rode out of the park and back to the cottage. At least, they tried to.

"How will we get back?" Rachel asked. "I've completely lost my bearings!"

"I haven't" Blaine smiled proudly. "Just follow me."

"I don't trust you" Santana said but followed along anyways.

They rode back the way they came slowly as their bags slowed them down and forced them to ride carefully.

Then came the real issue: a fork in the road. They came to a stop and stared at the two possible roads.

"Guys" Finn began. "Which way?"

"I know we came from that way" Tina pointed to the ride road. "I distinctly remember passing that gnome." She was referring to a little garden gnome that was by the road in a garden, marking some cottage.

"So we go back that way?" Finn asked.

"Yes" Kurt said.

"I think this way will take us to the same place" Blaine said, pointing to the left path. "You know that triangle patch that's near our cottage? I think the other way, the one we didn't take, connects to here."

"Are you sure?" Quinn asked.

"Almost positive" Blaine nodded.

"Key word: almost" Joe muttered.

"Well then, how about a race?" Sam asked with a smirk. He knew they'd agree because they were all incredibly competitive. "We go which way we want and see who makes it back first."

"I'm in" Puck said.

"But the only rule is that all members of your group must be there" Rachel said. "So no riding ahead."

"Okay pick your side!" Rory smiled.

They rode their bikes over so they were split up. Going down the left road was Blaine, Kurt, Rory, Rachel, Joe, Sam and Sugar. On the right side was Quinn, Santana, Brittany, Finn and Artie, Tina, Mike, Mercedes and Puck.

Sam grinned. "Ready? Go!"

And with that, they all took off. It was a bit downhill both ways so they all picked up speed.

"Wheeeeee!" Brittany shouted as she peddled.

"Faster" Rachel demanded to her group. Luckily, their side was mostly downhill so they didn't even need to peddle. In fact, they all had the brakes on a bit because they were afraid of crashing.

"Are we winning?" Kurt asked when the hill was less steep.

"I don't know. But don't look back or you'll crash" Blaine advised wisely.

"Are you okay back there, Artie?" Finn asked, his eyes forward.

"Yeah."

"Good."

Joe was the first one to turn into the cottage lot. He pulled to a stop and grinned when he saw that he was first back. The other team wasn't back.

"Quick! Quick! I think we've got this!" Sam said and hopped off his bike. The rest of their team rode in and came to a quick halt.

"We won!" Rachel cheered and hugged Blaine. "You were right!"

The sound of tires was heard and they all looked to see Puck ride in.

"Hey...loser!" Sugar shouted.

"You're all here?" Puck asked in shock. He swore.

The rest of Puck's team hurried in, only to find that they had lost.

"Our way was pretty much downhill the whole way" Kurt told Mercedes.

"Lucky" Mercedes said.

"So how about it, Santana? Trust me yet?" Blaine asked with a smirk.

Santana flipped her dark hair. "We'll see." And with that, she stormed off into the cottage.

Will, Emma and Sue rode in only minutes later.

Together, everyone helped carry in the groceries and put them away inside.

"It's almost dinner time" Finn said, looking at the large wooden clock that was mounted over the fireplace.

"Yes. We'll make dinner" Will said. "Emma, will you help me?"

Emma nodded. "Of course."

Will looked at Sue. "I'd ask you to help, but surely you can't do that when you're pregnant" he said sarcastically.

Sue smiled smugly. "Thanks for understanding, William."

* * *

"I'm bored" Mercedes sighed.

"Let's play a game!" Tina smiled.

"Oh! What's that game where you say something and it goes around and then the last person has to say it?" Blaine asked.

"Telephone?" Quinn asked.

"Yes!" Blaine smiled.

"Let's play that!" Rory smiled and sat up.

They arranged themselves in a circle.

"I'll start!" Rachel announced. She turned to Mike, who happened to be sitting next to her. She leaned forward and whispered in his ear. "There isn't a song that Rachel Berry can't handle."

Mike rolled his eyes and passed it to Quinn, who passed it to Mercedes, who passed it to Kurt, who passed it to Tina, who passed it to Finn, who passed it to Brittany, who passed it to Rory, who passed it to Joe, who passed it to Sam, who passed it to Santana who passed it to Blaine, who passed it to Sugar, who passed it to Artie, who passed it to Puck. By the time it got around, there were many weird faces and laughs.

Finally Puck stopped laughing. "Here's what I got: there isn't a bong that Rachel's hairy aunt cradle."

Everyone burst out laughing. Even Rachel giggled.

"What did it start out as?" Quinn asked Rachel.

Rachel flipped her hair. "There isn't a song that Rachel Berry can't handle!"

"Hmm. Well, I'll start now!" Santana said. She paused to think about her line. "Got it!" She leaned over to Blaine and whispered to him.

The message got passed down the line until it got to Sam. This round too much longer because Mercedes had to pause for four minutes so she could control her laughter.

Sam smiled. "Five Pucks say Mr. Soup and missy are doing packaging in the mitten."

They laughed but Santana rolled her eyes.

"That makes so sense at all" Brittany frowned.

"What I said at first was 'five bucks say Mr. Shue and Ms. P are doing the nasty in the kitchen'" Santana said in a low voice and a smile.

"Woah I did not need that mind picture!" Finn yelled and clapped his hands over his eyes. "Quick, start another round!"

"Okay, I'll start" Kurt said. He leaned over to Tina with his message.

The message went around and ended with Mercedes. By now they were all in a giggly mood.

Mercedes cleared her throat. "Okay this makes zero sense. If Brittany's hair sand maybe sagas do a donut, while died happy."

Brittany ran her fingers through her hair.

Kurt laughed. "That's not what I said at all. I said 'if Britney Spears and Lady Gaga do a duet, I'll die happy' so you got the die happy part sort of right."

They played many more rounds and each message got more twisted and funnier.

They got 'Bow lies are school no data what you pay' from 'bow ties are cool no matter what you say'.

They got 'Puckzilla is the fattest dude limes hover see' from Puckzilla is the baddest dude Lima has ever seen'.

'I need a candy mud foe this ritz candy hal' from 'I need a candy man for this rich candy gal'.

'Theys be me rowing, they highting' from 'they see me rolling, they hating'.

'I was moth be door it was fool' from 'I was goth before it was cool'.

'Who wants to have a dans parts on the beach' from 'who wants to have a dance party on the beach'.

'I wish my hat was hair because I loaf em more than he loves fondue' from 'I wish my cat was here because I love him more than he loves fondue'.

'Who needs a hose who hen you've my lucky dead hawks' from 'who needs a horseshoe when you have my lucky dreadlocks'.

'Actually a foul wreath cover is luckier hand stupid dead lucks' from 'actually, a four-leaf clover is luckier than stupid dreadlocks'.

'Lime stoving' from 'I'm starving'.

'I ham the own one in ma ham's lee who has a tuppy house' from 'I am the only one in my family who has a trouty mouth'.

'I'm hay be bond put I'm hots dump' from 'I may be blonde, but I'm not dumb'.

'Whom us be trips sing gif you think you're roar beaver ham me' from 'You must be tripping if you think you're more diva than me'.

Their laughs were unstoppable.

"This is the best game ever!" Brittany exclaimed loudly.

"Shut up over there!" Sue yelled at them. She sat at the table, reading a magazine. "Your obnoxious giggles are annoying me and my unborn child."

"Calm down, Sue" Will said, coming out of the kitchen. He turned to the kids, who were all red-faced from laughing. "Dinner is ready!"

"When do we get our surprise?" Artie asked.

"After dinner" Will said. Emma came out of the kitchen with a large plate with slices of pizza on it.

"Yum yum yum!" Emma said and set the plate down on the table. The teens all rushed over to it and the plate was empty in less than a minute.

"Slow down, there" Will laughed.

"And stop eating like savages" Sue said. She walked over to Artie, who was eating one piece of pizza and had two others in his hand. "Gimmie that" she said as she took one of his two pieces.

Artie knew better then to argue with her. Mercedes shared one of her slices with him.

They devoured the pizza and the rest of their dinner really fast.

"Surprise time?" Tina asked Mr. Schue.

"Alright, alright" Will laughed. He walked over to the kitchen, where the mysterious brown bag was and brought it back. "Everyone close your eyes and hold out your hand."

"This doesn't sound safe" Blaine commented but did it anyways.

"It's not a knife" Sue said.

Will distributed the bag's contents. "Okay, open your eyes."

The teens all did and what they saw was...

"Cookie!" Brittany yelled.

"Oh my gosh, these are adorable!" Quinn smiled. They all had a large round cookie. It was brown and had a chocolate smiley face on it.

Finn took the first bite. "They taste amazing!"

They all bit their cookie.

"Yum!"

"So good!"

"Mmmmm!"

"These are 'Happy Face Cookies', which are famous here in Victoria Beach" Will said.

Even Sue ate one.

"Thanks a lot, Mr. Schue!" Mercedes smiled.

Everyone nodded and gave their thanks.

"You're welcome!" Will smiled and ate his own cookie.

* * *

**A/N**

**Hello there! :)**

**Again, I don't have much to say. Thanks to all my reviewers and readers. I love you and when I get those emails that tell me I have a new review or someone is following this and me, I smile and want to dance and hug each and every one of you! **

**Anyways, if you have any ideas or something that you want to happen (within reason), let me know! Let me know what you enjoyed so I can write more! :D **

**Luv ya! **

**And check out my glee blog**

**gleerificnewsstop{dot}wordpress{dot}com**


	7. Chapter 7

Morning was interesting, to say the least. Will woke them up at 9:30 sharp.

They were all super cranky.

"Guys, it's 9:30. You can't sleep the day away!" Will chirped.

"I bet they could" Kurt said. He was a morning person so he was the only one who wasn't a sleepy mess. "One time, Finn slept until four in the afternoon. Then when he woke up, he ate half a loaf of bread then went back to sleep until the next day."

"That's not true" Finn mumbled. "I ate cheese and ham with that bread."

After they had finished dinner the night before, they sat around and talked and sang songs. That continued until past midnight, when the adults called it a day and went to the bunk house and told them to keep it down. Then the teens all changed into their pajamas and continued to talk for another hour until they all slowly drifted into a deep sleep.

"Up, up, up!" Will said, pulling open the thick orange curtains that were over the windows.

"I love that song" Blaine smiled and sat up and yawned.

"Who is it by?" Sugar asked.

"Shania Twain" Blaine replied.

"Who?" Finn asked.

"Good morning everyone!" Rachel said loudly.

"Gnaah" Santana mumbled and stuffed her pillow over head.

Slowly but surely, they all managed to crawl out of their sleeping bags. They inched their way to the kitchen and made breakfast.

They sat around where ever with a plate or bowl of what ever.

"I don't even think the kids are awake enough to know what they're doing" Emma whispered to Will. She had come into the cottage to see the kids acting sluggish.

"Probably not" Will agreed, handing Emma a mug of coffee.

The screen door slid open.

"Good morning, everyone. It's another bright day so here's hoping you all get sunburns" Sue exclaimed. She took a deep breath. "Is that coffee I smell?"

"In the pot in the kitchen, Sue" Will told her and Sue walked off.

"She still is wearing track suits?" Emma asked. "Even on vacation?"

"Yup" Will said, looking at Sue's orange and blue track suit.

* * *

"So what's on tap today?" Quinn asked. After eating food, they had all woken up a bit and were able to converse.

"Nothing. Mr. Schue said no beer" Puck muttered and shoved a spoon of some cereal in his mouth.

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Is beer all you think about?"

Puck shrugged.

"Anyways, what I meant was, what are we doing today?" Quinn asked them.

"Beach!" Mike yelled.

"Yeah, I wanna see what it's like!" Rachel said.

"Okay but we can't be at the beach all day" Kurt said.

"Yeah, plus the water is probably freezing now" Tina added.

"We could go back to Town?" Mercedes suggested.

"We could explore the area?" Blaine suggested.

"We could explore Town?" Finn laughed.

* * *

"Does anyone know what poison ivy looks like?" Kurt asked, eyeing the green plants that grew along the side of the road.

"It has three leaves" Quinn answered.

"Just stay away" Tina said. "It's called poison for a reason."

Kurt took a large step to the left and away from the edge of the road.

They were walking to Town instead of riding. They all agreed that they weren't in a rush so it was okay to take a leisurely walk. And Artie didn't find the road that difficult to roll on.

"This place really is lovely" Rachel said, swinging her hand, that was holding Finn's.

"It is" Finn nodded but he was staring mostly at Rachel than what was around them.

"Canada is different than what I expected" Mercedes said.

"Me too!" Puck nodded. He smiled at Sam as they were both clearly thinking about how Finn had filled them in about Canada on the plane.

"Did you know that we are all older than one of Canada's territories?" Mike asked them.

"Cool story, bro. Tell it again, except skip to the chapter where I care" Santana replied.

Artie rolled hie eyes. "I think that's very interesting, Mike."

"Thank you" Mike gave a fake, over exaggerated curtsey, to which they all giggled.

* * *

They arrived in Town. Even though it was around ten-thirty in the morning and if they had it their way, they'd all probably be still sleeping, the park was busy.

"We should play tennis" Rory said, looking at the large courts.

Puck shook his head. "Tennis isn't a man's game. Tennis is for girls. And sissies."

"Tennis is fun!" Rachel exclaimed. I have the cutest tennis outfit! I'm so glad I brought it!"

"Thanks for proving my point" Puck smiled and patted Rachel's head like she was a puppy.

"I don't know how to play tennis" Mercedes said.

"Look, guys, we can't even play tennis now because we don't have rackets or balls" Joe wisely said.

"Some of us have balls" Puck snickered.

"Tennis balls!" Tina said and scoffed at his immaturity.

"Yeah, Joe's right" Sam nodded. "Maybe Mr. Schue knows where we can get some so we can play."

They left it at that and walked to the play ground equipment.

"We are so too old for this stuff" Sugar said. "You're joking if you think the swings will hold our weight."

"Nonsence!" Finn smiled and ran over to the swings. He sat down on the seat and started swinging. "See? Totally sturdy!"

Rory took the other swing next to Finn.

"Who wants to sit in the baby swing?" Mercedes laughed. "I think Kurt will fit!"

"I think Kurt will kill you" Kurt responded from where he and Blaine sat on the nearest bench.

"Blaine? You're about as tall as a five year old" Mercedes winked at him and beckoned him over to the swing.

"Oh alright!" Blaine smiled and jumped up. Kurt followed, with a look of amusement.

"Seriously?" Tina asked.

Blaine shrugged.

"Mercedes, give me your camera" Brittany said. "I want pictures."

Mercedes reached into her bag and handed Brittany her camera. "You press the big button to take the picture" she said then helped Blaine climb up into the swing.

"I don't think my butt will fit" Blaine laughed, trying to stick his leg into the leg slot.

It took a lot of pushing and pulling and squirming and wiggling, but Blaine finally managed to sit properly in the swing.

Brittany took pictures. "Lord Tubbington did this once."

"Awww look at baby Blaine" Tina cooed and pinched Blaine's cheeks.

Blaine rolled his eyes. "This swing gives you such a wedgie."

"Brittany, take a video" Mercedes said and once Brittany had the video set up and recording, Mercedes and Kurt pushed Blaine in the swing.

"Higher!" Blaine shouted, holding his hands up like he was on a roller coaster.

"Aw, Blaine looks like a little doll" Rachel said, jumping in front of the camera to get in the shot.

"Can I get out now?" Blaine asked.

"As soon as we get a group picture" Mercedes said. She set the camera up on a large rock than ran back. They all got in the picture, with Blaine in the middle.

The camera gave a small 'click'.

"Yay. Now help me out" Blaine said, holding out his arms. Puck and Joe helped him out.

"Was that fun or what?" Rachel asked Blaine.

Blaine smirked. "Why don't your try for yourself?"

Rachel shook her head. "I'm wearing a skirt."

Quinn and Joe sat back on the normal swings.

"I'm going higher" Joe informed Quinn with a laugh.

Quinn swung her legs so she was forcing herself faster and higher. "Nope, I am!"

Joe matched her speed.

Quinn beat that.

Joe beat that.

And what happened next occurred so fast that most of them missed it and were only alerted of the incident when Sam let out a yelp and Sugar gasped.

"Sam!" Rachel gasped when she turned around and saw Sam on the ground.

"Is he dead?" Sugar asked, poking Sam with the toe of her brown leather boot.

"Owwww" Sam moaned, his hands on his face and his face on the ground.

"Oh my gosh, Sam!" Mercedes gasped and rushed forward.

"What happened? I missed that" Santana asked.

Quinn and Joe had slowed down their swings so their feet dragged on the ground.

"I hit him" Quinn said quietly. "Well, not on purpose. He ran into my foot."

"Sam, are you okay?" Mercedes asked, helping him sit up.

"How did he run into your foot?" Finn asked.

"We were playing Tag" Brittany said.

"She was chasing him" Sugar said, pointing to Brittany. "And he ran straight across the swing area."

"Sam, are you okay?" Mercedes repeated. His hands were still on his face, covering his right eye.

"My face hurts" Sam said.

"Sorry!" Quinn said sadly.

"Let me see" Mercedes said, prying Sam's hands away.

"Is it bad?"

"Yikes" Kurt said and Puck whistled.

"It's red and bruising" Mercedes said, gently poking the bruise right under his eye. Sam winced.

"He needs ice on it" Kurt said.

"And on a hot summers day, ice is all over the place" Santana said sarcastically.

"Maybe we can get some at the store" Rachel said.

"I'll go see" Kurt said, pulling Rachel with him. They hurried across the park and to the store.

Quinn hopped of the swing and knelt in front of Sam. "I am so sorry."

"It's not your fault" Sam said. "I shouldn't have run into the swing's path."

"I picked the wrong day to wear a shoe with a bit of a heel on it" Quinn sighed.

Sam managed a smile.

* * *

Kurt and Rachel returned to the group ten minutes later with a few ice cubes wrapped in a soaked paper towel.

"Hurry before it melts" Rachel said and Sam pressed it to his face, which was a bit swollen.

"And here" Kurt said, handing him a small paper bag. Sam opened it and peered inside.

"We saw these and thought of you" Rachel giggled. Sam laughed when he saw the bag's contents. Inside the bag were little red pieces of candy shaped as lips.

"They're called Hot Lips" Rachel said. "They totally remind us of you."

Sam laughed. "Thanks!" He ate two then passed the bag around so everyone could have one.

"Wow" Rory chuckled. "It's not even noon on our first day and we've already had an injury."

Artie nodded. "I can only imagine what's to come."

* * *

"So how are you liking Victoria Beach?" Emma asked Sue after the kids had left. Will had gone off to take a shower, leaving the two woman.

"Hideous. There are too many trees" Sue said. "I have allergies."

"That's silly. The trees are so full and lovely" Emma said, sipping her coffee. It was her third cup.

"Hmm" Sue said, obviously not interested in pursuing the topic.

"What are your other plans for the summer?" Emma asked Sue.

"Well, Esmerelda, if you must know, I am planning on going down to my beach house. It's relaxing and quiet" Sue said.

"Sounds gorgeous" Emma nodded.

"It is."

"But...is it safe to be flying so much if you're pregnant?" Emma asked slowly.

Sue paused. "I don't know. I guess not. You know, maybe you're right. I guess I'll stay in Lima until she's born."

"Good idea. Speaking of 'she', do you have any names picked out?"

"A few" Sue nodded. "I've been thinking about Lily, Robin, Madonna, Avril and Emily."

"They're all lovely...well, except Madonna. I don't really think that'll be a good name for her" Emma said.

"Madonna is my idol" Sue said.

"What about Jean? Did you think of naming her after your sister?" Emma gently asked.

"I did" Sue admitted. "But...even her name is hard for me to hear. I couldn't do that. I couldn't call her name everyday and not be reminded of my sister."

"Totally understandable" Emma nodded.

"You know, I'm excited to be a mother" Sue said. "For the longest time I didn't want to. But now I can't wait. She'll be all mine."

"Well, Sue, I can honestly say I'm happy for you. Thrilled, actually" Emma said. "This is so great for you."

Sue actually smiled. "Thank you."

Emma smiled back. She was actually pleased that she managed to have a normal, cheery conversation with Sue Sylvester. Whether it was Victoria Beach, or travelling, or the baby, or their Nationals win, or Sue's ownership of the Cheerios, whatever it was, it was bringing out the best in Sue.

Emma just hoped it would last.

* * *

**A/N**

**Hello!**

**How's sunmer going? I'm not in school yet (yay) but I'n excited to go back. Lol I'm sick of my family and crave human interaction. **

**Anyways, I hope you like this chapter. :) **

**Again, if you have any requests or ideas, please share. There will deffo be cute moments for all the couples coming up and forever.**

**TTYL **

**Love you all! (insert heart here)**


	8. Chapter 8

"Does it still hurt?" Mercedes asked Sam.

"Duh" Sam rolled his eyes.

Mercedes chuckled and kissed her finger tips then pressed them to Sam's bruise.

"Poor Sammy" Mercedes cooed.

"Mercedes, please. I am a man. Little bumps like this is totally natural" Sam said. He slung an arm around her shoulders. "Makes us manlier."

Mercedes laughed. "Sorry for caring about the fact that your beautiful face has an ugly mark."

"Manly mark" Sam corrected her with a smile.

"Mr. Schue will flip when he sees it" Mercedes said.

Sam shrugged. "I'll tell him something cool like I got it while I fought off a mutant bear and saved you all."

It was Mercedes' turn to roll her eyes. "Yeah, he'll totally believe that."

"Is this even open?" Puck asked as they stood in front of Moonlight Inn.

"Of course" Blaine said. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"It's not night so there's no moonlight so we can't go in" Puck said.

Quinn shook her head. "So wrong in so many ways."

They went in the restaurant.

"Coolbeans" Santana said, looking around.

"It's like a diner" Mike said.

"Are we gonna get lunch here?" Brittany asked, looking at the tubs of ice cream.

"Nah, we'll do that another day" Finn said.

"Yeah, Mr. Schue went to go get more food this morning" Artie said. "So we can have a good lunch back at the cottage."

They looked around Moonlight Inn for a while until the employees started giving them weird looks and they left.

"Now where to?" Sugar asked, looking around.

"We could go back to the park?" Blaine suggested. "Or the bakery?"

"We'll stop there on the way back" Rachel said. "Let's go this way." She pointed in the opposite way of the way they came. Next to Moonlight Inn was a path.

"Okay" they agreed.

They walked through the trees.

"Oh, lookie. Another field" Santana scoffed as they came onto another wide open field.

"Fields can be fun" Finn said in a monotone.

"I like frolicking in them" Brittany commented as she pushed Artie's wheelchair.

"They're green, so I like them" Rory laughed.

"The road still continues, so let's walk down and see what we find" Joe said.

"As long as we don't get lost" Quinn said. "We've never been down here, we've left Town and Mr. Schue doesn't know we're here."

"Girl, relax" Mercedes said. "We'll be fine."

"Maybe" Kurt muttered, making them laugh.

They walked down the road, leaving the field behind them. Just off the road and behind some trees and plants was the water edge. Between the trees they could see the odd boat floating on the glossy water.

"A building!" Blaine said, pointing to the large white and green building that came into sight on the right side of the road.

"Thanks a bunch, Captain Super-Mega Obvious" Mercedes laughed. "I didn't even see that!"

The building was about the size of a house. It had double doors up on the porch and there were both steps and a long ramp leading up.

"It's got a ramp!" Artie said with an approving nod.

"Do you think it's a house?" Tina asked. They all stopped in front of it.

"I doubt it" Kurt said. "Look, there are like ten bike racks out here. One house can't possibly need fifty or so bikes." He was right. There were many wooden bike racks stationed all over.

"Maybe it's like a city building. Like the mayor's office or something" Finn said.

"Who knows?" Puck shrugged. "Besides, it doesn't look like there's a welcome sign or anyone there so let's move on."

They agreed and walked on, passing the building.

"There's sand around" Brittany said, looking at the sand. It had been all around the building. It wasn't clean golden sand; it was white sand with bits of branch and leaves and wood in it, but it was very soft.

"Well, we're near water" Sam said. "It's like a beach."

"It's not very pretty sand" Quinn said. "Hopefully the beach near our cottage is nicer."

"Woah!" Rory breathed as they turned the corner. The trees cleared and in front of them was a large pier. It was far out on to the water and had a few boats docked on the left side in a small boat parking lot area.

"Pretty" Mercedes said and snapped a picture.

The water was in soft waves and due to the bright sun over head, the water glistened brightly. A few birds sat on the water and floated along and a white boat sped by in the distance, leaving a trail of white water behind it.

"Looks so pretty" Rachel said.

"Come on!" Brittany giggled. She grabbed Santana's hand and they ran down to the edge of the pier.

The others hurried after them.

They stood at the very edge of the pier. One step out and they would be falling into water. The only thing stopping them from doing that was a tiny orange metal fence thing that went all around the pier. It was thick enough to sit on, but only about ten centimeters off the ground so it didn't offer much safety.

"I wanna jump in!" Puck declared, eyeing the water. It wasn't blue water. It was dark and even looked a bit green.

"Looks cold" Quinn commented and gave an involuntary shiver.

"You can jump in later" Kurt said to Puck. "It's about time we head back now."

"Yeah, it's almost lunch time" Finn smiled.

Puck frowned. "Fine."

They walked back up the pier and back to Town.

"Are we gonna stop in the Bakery?" Tina asked, looking at the building.

"Might as well" Quinn said and started for the door. The others followed close behind.

"Oh man" Sam sighed when they got inside. It wasn't very big at all so they took up a lot of space. But the smell was fantastic. The whole place smelled like freshly baked goods.

"Why can't perfume smell like this?" Rachel asked, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

"Because we'd eat it" Mercedes laughed.

"Look at the goods. It all looks so good!" Finn smiled and looked at the rows of food behind the glass.

"Look at all the Happy Face cookies!" Artie tapped the glass. There were rows and rows of them there.

"Yum" Rory licked his lips.

"Well, as much as I'm sure we would all like to stay in here forever and just smell and stare, we should be heading back now" Rachel said, adopting her leader tone.

"Alright" Artie sighed and they all left the bakery with sad looks.

* * *

"We're back!" Kurt announced as they walked into the cottage.

"Hello!" Emma called from the large living room where she was cleaning the couch with disposable wipes. "How was Town?"

"Fine" Joe told her. "We also went down to the pier".

"Oh, fun. What did you see?"

"Water" Brittany smiled.

Emma paused. She knew Brittany was not the smartest person but she didn't know how to respond to comments like that. Luckily, at that moment, a bike bell dinged and Will came riding into the cottage yard. Artie's carriage was attached to his bike and it, along with Will's handle bars, was loaded with shopping bags.

"I come bearing food!" Will shouted. The windows were open so they all heard him. The teens rushed outside to help carry in groceries.

"Hey! How was your morning?" Will asked as he handed Finn a large bag of groceries.

"Pretty sweet!" Finn grinned at him.

"Awesome" Will said. "I knew you'd like it here."

"We do so far" Mercedes said and took a bag of fresh fruit.

"That's gre- Sam! What happened to your face?" Will gasped, staring at Sam's bruise.

Sam chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm totally fine. I kinda got in some swing traffic."

"Is that like swing dancing?" Brittany asked.

"No" Will shook his head then turned back to Sam. "But you're okay? It was an accident?"

Sam nodded. "It was all my fault."

"Okay then. Be careful next time" Will said. "Thank goodness it wasn't your eye. It's dangerously close, though."

Sam nodded then walked into the cottage with a bag of groceries.

"Okay. So what's for eats?" Blaine asked when all the groceries were brought in.

"Chicken noodle soup" Will answered. "It'll be ready soon."

"And after that...BEACH!" Santana cheered.

* * *

**A/N**

**Hello there!**

**How's life?**

**Anyhoo, so the next chapter is the first Beach chapter! Yay! So if you have any water/beach games you want them to play, lemmie know! I have the imagination of a spoon so your ideas help. **

**Also, I'm taking a poll: should I have some OC's in the story or not? It won't be Kaylee (lol remember her?) or anyone from Phat Lady but I have an idea for 2 OC's. I'm not sure if I'll use them because sometimes I feel that OC's sometimes take away from the story. So let me know if you want them or not. Seriously. I'm okay either way.**

**:) So that's all for now.**

**Love you lots and thanks for reading/reviewing/being a Gleek.**

**Check out my Glee blog :)**

**gleerificnewsstop{dot}wordpress{dot}com**


	9. Chapter 9

"Rachel! Hurry it up!" Mercedes said. Everyone was ready for the beach except Rachel.

"Sorry!" Rachel whined. "I can't find the matching half of my bathing suit."

"So wear another half. No one cares" Santana said.

"Then it won't match" Rachel said and dug in her suitcase. Clothes were flung all over the room.

"What's the hold up?" Sam asked the girls.

"Rachel can't find half her bathing suit" Mercedes answered.

"Found it!" Rachel exclaimed and held up both pieces of her yellow and red bikini.

"Yay. Now go change quickly" Tina said and Rachel raced out of the room and to the bathroom.

She changed and hurried out.

"Cute!" Mercedes smiled. She had gone to the mall with Rachel when she had bought that.

Rachel smiled and grabbed her towel. "Okay! Let's hit the beach!"

They cheered.

"Mr. Schue, are you guys coming to the beach?" Finn asked.

"We will" Emma nodded.

"Oh, and here's a tip. When you go in the water, be aware of large rocks" Will told them. "You could trip or stub your feet."

"Cool! Bye!" Finn smiled and they ran out of the cottage and down the other side of the porch. They went down the path, awkwardly hopping because they all had bare feet and there were pine needles and pebbles around.

"Woah!" Blaine grinned. They came to a large drop. A few meters to the left was a wooden staircase that led down the drop and on to the beach. From up top, they could see the whole beach and water.

The beach wasn't busy but it wasn't empty, either.

Mercedes took a picture.

"Well, what are we waiting for up here?" Quinn smiled. "Let's go!"

They all ran to the stairs and hurried down them, even if they were a bit rickety.

"Oh, good! The sand is so nice" Rory smiled and looked at the sand. It was warm and golden and soft.

"Who cares about the sand? Let's hit the water!" Puck smiled. They all dropped their towels and bags on the sand.

Sam and Finn helped Artie into his raft and they all went to the water's edge.

"Yikes, that's cold" Mike said when the water rolled up to their feet.

"Yeah, it was warmer in Florida" Brittany said.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "No kidding. Florida is way closer to the equator. We're in Canada and that's up north."

"We're in Canada?" Brittany gasped. "Wow, how did that happen?"

Blaine shook his head and stepped deeper into the water so it went up to his knees.

"Oh, you guys are a bunch of sissies" Finn smiled. He stepped forward and leaped into the water, completely going under.

He purposely kicked his feet on the way under, splashing his friends.

"Finn!" Mercedes yelled as she got a face-full of cold water.

Finn resurfaced and saw his friends slowly making their way deeper into the water.

"Come on!" he called.

Puck dove in too. When he surfaced, his teeth were chattering. "N-not c-c-cold at a-all" he gave a fake smile.

Then he swam over to Tina. She was the least wet because she was the slowest going in.

"Hey, Tina" Puck grinned deviously. "I feel like I don't hug you enough. But no more!" and he wrapped his arms around her small frame.

"Noah Puckerman! You let go of me this instant!" Tina screeched as she got wet thanks to his cold, dripping body.

"But, Tina, I love you!" Puck smiled and tightened his grip and put emphasis on the word 'love'.

He pulled her down and into the water.

Tina screamed like she was being stabbed. "I hate you and I don't want to be wet!"

Even random people on the beach looked over in alarm at Tina's shrieks.

Finally, when Tina was underwater with the exception of her head, Puck let go.

Tina stood up, shivering and wet.

Puck grinned and swam away. "That was fun, wasn't it, Tina?"

Tina glared at him, her dark hair falling in wet strands over her face.

"Puck, I will get you in your sleep" she threatened. "Mark my words."

Puck laughed and blew her a kiss in a mocking way.

Rachel waded over to where Tina stood with fists clenched.

"You want payback?" Rachel whispered.

Tina nodded. "You're not half bad with pranks. Help me out?"

Rachel grinned. "You bet!"

* * *

"Marco?" Mike called as he waded around with his eyes closed.

"Polo!" They all answered and swam around as Mike approached.

"Freeze!" Artie called from where he floated on his raft. They all froze in their spot, except for Mike who still moved around with his arms out.

Mike blindly moved around.

"Six, five, four, three, two, one" Artie called. After he hit 'one', they all moved around again for ten more seconds.

"Marco!" Mike called, his voice sounding a big desperate.

"Polo!"

"Freeze!" Artie yelled and again, they froze.

Kurt was standing next to Quinn. He carefully leaned over and whispered in her ear. Quinn smiled and whispered it to Sam. The secret message got quietly passed along until they all knew the instructions. Another round went and the next time they froze, they didn't actually freeze. Instead, they quietly moved forward so they all surrounded Mike.

Kurt held up three fingers so they could all see. Then he lowered a finger at a time until he had no fingers up. That signaled it to begin. They all started screaming and splashing Mike. Mike jumped at the shock and even though he tried to open his eyes, Joe and Rachel made the stream of water in his face so hard to see through.

"Guys! Ah, guys! Stop!" Mike tried to stop them but it failed. He even dove under water but as soon as he went up for air, they nailed him again.

Artie was laughing his head off.

After a while, they let up and Mike could breath and see again.

He rolled his eyes. "What is this, hate on Asians day?"

"An annual holiday!" Finn declared with a laugh.

"I'm cold. Let's go in" Sugar said.

"Yes, her royal highness" Mercedes muttered.

They all waded towards the shore, shivering as more and more of their bodies were out of water.

"Towels!" Rachel yelped as they dove for the messy pile of towels.

They wrapped themselves in the towels.

"How was the water?" Emma asked them.

"Cold" Santana answered.

"Like your heart" Artie muttered.

Santana elbowed the side of his face.

"Ow..." Artie pouted.

"Tan time!" Tina smiled and the girls all set out their towels to lie on.

"Tan time? Lame!" Puck moaned. "Oh, Kurt, not you too!" he said as Kurt was setting out his towel too.

"Puck, I'm sorry of you feel like my femanine habits are well, femanine, but do you see my skin? It's pale. I need a tan" Kurt sighed.

"You don't need a tan" Finn said. "We're dudes. Dudes don't care if our skin is a few shades darker."

"Well 'dudes', you don't have the nickname of Porcelain" Kurt argued.

Mike laughed. "That's not true!"

Kurt tipped his head and walked right over to where Coach Sylvester was standing. Even on the beach, she still wore a tracksuit.

Making sure the boys could hear, Kurt said loudly, "Good afternoon, Coach Sylvester."

Sue looked at Kurt with an emotionless face. "Afternoon, Porcelain."

Kurt smiled and marched back to the boys. "Now" he began. "If this silly argument is over, I'm going to tan now." And with that, he lay down on his towel, next to Brittany.

The boys just stood around, dumbfounded.

Artie laughed and held out his hands as if he was carrying a tray. He shoved his hands toward Finn and Puck. "You just got served, yo!"

Blaine laughed and went and lay down next to Kurt.

"Sup Porcelain" he teased.

"Sup Afro" Kurt retorted with a slight frown.

"Oh, ouch, okay, I'm sorry" Blaine said with a light laugh, but he lost it right away. "Why are you tanning?"

Kurt scoffed. "Is that a trick question? How many reason are there for tanning?"

"Okay, let me rephrase that. Why do you feel the need to tan?" Blaine asked.

Kurt sighed. "Since when are you my therapist?"

"Since we started dating" Blaine boldly answered. "But seriously, do you seriously hate your pale-ish skin?"

"Nice save with the '-ish'. And yes, I do" Kurt said.

"Well you shouldn't."

"And yet, I do."

"Pale is cool. You should know that. Remember in like the 50's when pale skin was the best?"

"Yes, Blaine, but this isn't the 1950's. And now, tan is attractive" Kurt stated.

"Attractive to who?" Blaine asked. "I love you. And you have pale skin. And I love that. Don't change."

Kurt sighed. "But-"

"Kurt, don't make me sing..." Blaine said with a smile and poked Kurt's arm a few times.

"What?"

Blaine cleared his through. "Pretty pretty please, don't you ever ever feel, like you're less than, less than perfect. Pretty pretty please, if you ever ever feel, like you're nothing, you are perfect to me."

Kurt smiled. "I love you."

Blaine smiled and kissed Kurt's cheek, making Rachel and Mercedes, who had been watching, smile too.

"So how's about you and I go play football with the guys?" Blaine said, giving Kurt his best pleading eyes.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Alright. But I'm not putting a shirt on so I can maybe still get some sun."

Blaine winked. "Good. Shirtless is good. Shirtless is great."

* * *

"Hey, guys, it's almost five!" Will called a few hours later.

"I can tell. I'm getting hungry" Rory said.

"Exactly" Will said. "So, how about we go back up to the cottage and I'll barbecue some hamburgers and hotdogs?"

"Yes!" They all yelled.

"Did you get some vegan burgers?" Rachel asked.

"I did" Will nodded. "Just for you."

"Yay, thanks!"

"Okay grab your stuff and let's go!" Emma said. The teens grabbed their towels and bags and they walked up the stairs.

Will stopped them before they could get on the deck of the cottage.

"Look down" he told them. "What do you see?"

"The ground!" Brittany exclaimed.

"A dead bumblebee" Quinn said.

"A rock" Finn said.

Will sighed. "Look at your feet."

"Toes!" Rory said.

Will sighed again. "Sand! The answer was sand! Your feet are covered in sand."

"Oh..." Sam said. "Yeah, you're right."

"And there is no way that you're going into the cottage with sandy feet. Ms. Pillsbury will flip" Will said. "So use this." he pointed to a green hose that was coiled up on the ground. "Turn it on, get the sand off and move along. And who ever is last, turns it off."

"Alright" Joe said and took the hose from Mr. Schue.

Will walked up the steps and inside the cottage. Then he looked out the window at them.

"And no spraying each other with it!" he called through the screen.

"Darn!"

* * *

**A/N**

**Hiya! **

**Happy long weekend! Happy September 1st! And judging by the fact that this is posted, it's safe to say that I didn't get on the Hogwarts Express. :( **

**Anyhoo, I hope you enjoyed this bit of Klaine loving and beach fun!**

**I'm going to ask this again, because I didn't get any answers last time: Do you guys want any OCs? I have ideas for 2. But if you don't want them, I am totally okay with that. Sometimes OCs take away from the story and sometimes they're great. So.. Let me know! :)**

**Also, I'm still (always) open to ideas/games/suggestions. :)**

**Byeee!**


	10. Chapter 10

Dinner was fun in more ways than one. For starters, it was hotdogs and hamburgers, which is always a crowd pleaser. The teens ate a lot.

They also talked a lot. It was amazing how they could still talk for hours on end even though they've been together for two full days. It's like they never run out of things to say.

After dinner, Will and Emma got to washing dishes. Kurt, Quinn and Mercedes volunteered to help, but Emma politely declined because she didn't think their washing job would reach her impeccable and high standards.

So the boys settled down and watched a bad quality baseball game in front of the TV and the girls sat in a circle braiding each other's hair.

"I don't get baseball" Mercedes commented as she looked over and saw the guys gasping over some hit or basket or something. "It's guys with sticks hitting balls. What's the attraction?"

"Well when you put it like that, it sounds like gay guys should enjoy it" Santana snickered.

"They're guys. Sports to them are like clothes to us" Tina said.

"I know but I tried watching a game of hockey with my brother last Christmas and I could make it though fifteen minutes" Mercedes said. "But he was all into it."

"Who knows?" Quinn sighed and tied off Brittany's hair with a red hair elastic.

"Hello ladies" Kurt said, walking over to where they sat. He sat in the middle of their circle.

"Hey Kurt. Tired of the game?" Rachel asked with a smile.

"Yes. I can handle football sometimes but baseball is so stupid" Kurt said.

"All sports are stupid" Sugar said. "Except shopping."

"That's not a sport" Quinn pointed out even though Sugar ignored it.

* * *

Two hours later, Will and Emma were playing cards at the table, Sue was on the computer doing who-knows-what and the teens were all together again. The baseball game had ended and nothing good was on after that so the boys went over to where the girls were sitting. Now they were talking about siblings.

"My sister is cool" Quinn said. Then she paused. "Well, cool-ish. I mean, she was always nice to me, but she's like a mini version of my mom. When my parents kicked me out, she sided with Mom and Dad. Well, she didn't say that but she didn't call me or help me at all. I guess I forgave her like I forgave Mom and we talk now, but it's still weird, you know?"

"Sure, makes sense" Rachel said. "Not like I'd know. As you know, I am an only child."

"You are?" Joe asked.

Rachel's eyes widened. "You didn't know? Oh my! Maybe I should sing 'Only Child'. I wrote it, you know."

"No!" Finn blurted.

Rachel stared at him. "But it's a delightful song. I think Joe would love to hear it."

Joe didn't know what to say.

"My brother is funny" Mercedes said, distracting them. "He moved out but I see him every few weeks. He's so jokes. I love him."

"See, older siblings are awesome" Sam said. "My two little siblings drive me crazy."

"What? They're so cute!" Quinn smiled. "Stacy is like a little angel!"

Sam groaned and pointed at Quinn. "See? You fell for the act. She's a little monster. When people are around, she's all nice and sweet and fun. But as soon as you're gone, she's wild and loud and crazy."

They laughed.

"Why are you laughing?" Sam demanded. "This isn't funny! This is my life!"

That made them laugh more.

Sam sighed.

"I have a little sister too" Brittany said. "She's mean. She says I'm dumber than bricks. And Lord Tubbington is smarter than me."

Rory rolled his eyes. "Your sister is opinionated but she's fun. I play boardgames with her often. I used to do that with my siblings at home."

"Your siblings in Ireland?" Mike asked.

"Aye. My family. I miss them" Rory said. "So I make up for it by playing with Brittany's sister. She's a fierce Checkers player."

"I love Checkers!" Kurt smiled. "I used to play it with my Dad. On our Friday Night Dinners, before Finn and Carole were with us, we used to play games. I won Checkers but he won Solitaire."

"What's Solitaire?" Blaine asked.

Kurt, Puck and a few others gasped.

"You don't know what Solitaire is?" Puck asked.

Blaine shook his head. "No, I'm not good at card games."

Kurt smiled. "Don't worry. We'll teach you. By the end of this trip, you'll be a pro."

"Wait, hold it a minute" Tina said. "What are Friday Night Dinners? Or am I missing something?"

Kurt shook his head. "Friday Night Dinners are a Hummel tradition. Its basically dinners...on Friday night. My mom started it and after she passed, Dad and I continued it. It was our way to stay connected without Mom... And then when Finn and Carole came in the family, they participated in the dinners too."

"Aw, Kurt, that's so cute" Tina said with a smile.

"Do you miss her?" Mercedes asked.

"My mother?" Kurt asked.

Mercedes nodded.

"Sure. Every day" Kurt said. He felt Blaine take his hand but because of the pillow Kurt was sitting beside, no one saw it. "My mom was nice. I don't remember much of her but I remember little things like Friday Night Dinner or how she'd make us put decorations on the Christmas tree one at a time, which for a hyper little kid like me, was hard to do. Or how she'd ways get mad at Dad for wearing his work boots in the house. I still wish she was still with us, but at the same time, it's brought my dad and I closer and also we've met Carole, who is like my mom too."

"Aw, Kurt! Are you crying?" Rachel asked.

Kurt laughed. "Tearing up. Don't judge me."

Rachel got up and hugged Kurt awkwardly.

"Ooh are we doing a group hug thing here?" Brittany smiled.

Kurt pried Rachel off him. "No we are not. Get of me, you psycho!"

Rachel took no offense to this. "You love me. You all do."

"Artie, you've been oddly quiet" Quinn said. Artie was staring at the floor with a dazed out look. "Artie?"

Finn threw the TV remote at Artie. It his his chest and he snapped back to life.

"Ow" Artie winced.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Tina smiled at him.

Artie gave a silly smile then shook his head. "Nah, it's silly."

"We enjoy sillyness. Speak." Mercedes said.

Artie took a deep breath. "Well you know how we're American? Well the word 'American' is singular form and Americans is plural. Just like Canadian and Canadians. But Irish is both plural and singular. You can't say 'Irishes'. That makes no sense and you sound like you have a lisp. So why isn't the name for a person from Ireland 'Ire'? Then you can say I'm an 'Ire' and the plural would be 'Ires'. That makes more sense, don't you think?"

No one said anything.

Artie looked at them expectantly.

"Um..." Blaine finally spoke, but that wasn't really a word.

"That's true" Sam nodded slowly.

"Why would you think of that?" Puck asked incredulously.

Artie shrugged and smiled. "I told you it was silly."

"No, its quite ingenious. It makes sense. It's just random" Mike laughed.

"Why aren't you the president? Like seriously" Santana smiled, which Artie guessed was a compliment.

"Hey Artie, you don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but...how did you get in your wheelchair?" Rachel asked slowly.

"Rachel! You can't just go asking people why they're in wheelchairs!" Kurt scolded.

Artie shrugged. "It's okay. I guess you all should know. It's about time I told you anyways. The only people who know here are Tina and Mike. The answer is car crash. When I was eight, my mom was driving me home from soccer practice and we got into an awful car crash."

Quinn winced as if she was reliving her own car crash.

"Your mom is okay, though, right?" Joe asked, simply curious.

"Yup" Artie nodded. "Momma Abrams is perfectly okay."

"You used to play soccer?" Brittany asked.

At this, Artie seemed a bit sad. His face drooped a bit and he took a deep breath. "Yeah. I was actually really good. I was on a hard core rep team and played left forward. Soccer was my future."

No one spoke at first.

"Oh, dude, that sucks" Finn said.

"Awful" Quinn agreed. She, out of all of them, felt the worst about Artie's story. She had gotten in a car crash just like Artie and even ended up in a wheelchair too, but now she was back to normal and can continue to follow her dreams. But Artie never can. He can never kick a soccer ball again.

Artie sighed. "Thanks for your sympathy, guys. But you know what? I used to be upset that I'd never be a soccer star but now I have a new passion and it's much less physical. I mean, it's like they say, 'when one door closes, another one opens'."

"Who's 'they'?" Brittany asked Rory, who shrugged.

"You mean directing, right?" Mercedes asked. "Because you're a great director."

Artie smiled. "Thanks!"

"One day, we'll go to the movies and we'll see an Artie Abrams film and I can say I knew him when he was getting slushied every day!" Tina smiled.

"I've never gotten slushied" Sugar said. "Ever."

"Lucky" Mercedes grumbled.

"We so have to slushie her" Kurt said to Rachel. "It's basically like initiation!"

"Joe hasn't been slushied and I don't think Rory has either" Rachel said.

Blaine leaned over and smiled. "I saw a slushie machine in the store in Town."

Rachel's eyes lit up. "Bingo!"

"You know, I think we can all say 'I knew them when' because we'll all be famous one day" Santana said. "Especially me."

"For sure!" Finn smiled.

* * *

"Isn't that just so cute?" Emma asked. "The kids are bonding."

Will smiled and glanced over at the kids. "Makes me one proud teacher."

Emma shuffled the deck of cards. "It's just so amazing that they can talk about their pasts like that. I mean, I didn't know about Artie's soccer past. Or Friday Night Dinners at the Hummel's."

Will smiled. "They're deep people."

"And they're totally comfortable with each other."

"And we are so eavesdropping on them" Will laughed.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Well, yes, but in our defense, they are like right in the other room and there isn't a wall between us."

"Plus, they are loud people" Will added.

Emma smiled and dealt the cards. "Ready to lose again?"

* * *

**A/N**

**Heyderr!**

**How was schooooool? Mine was just meh. Speaking of school, since it's back and happening, my writing time will be limited. So I can pretty much guarentee one update a week. It'll probably be on Friday nights around 8-ish. So keep an eye out. If I don't update then, I'm either really busy or didn't finish writing it.**

**So this chapter is just ND talking and bonding and being cool. Thanks to '**Bandgeek481' **for the ideas of what ND talks about. :) I hope it was "amazeballs" enough for you! **

**Thanks to all who answered my question about OCs. So far it's 2 for yes and 1 for no. But the option is still out there so let me know!**

**And don't worry, I'll be getting some cute moments for ALL the couples. In due time, me amigos! **

**Love you all! Stay pretty! **


	11. Chapter 11

It was late when the teens finally drifted to sleep. Well, not all of them. Tina forced herself to stay awake. It wasn't an easy task but at last she heard Puck's snores and she smiled.

"Rachel!" Tina whispered, gently shaking Rachel awake. "Please get up."

Rachel slowly woke up and mumbled something Tina didn't understand.

"Shhhh" Tina smiled and she dragged Rachel to the next room where they sat among the luggage on the bed.

"What's going on?" Rachel asked. Tina turned on the light.

"You said you'd help me plan an awesome prank against Puck."

"Yeah but do we have to do it now?" Rachel whined.

"No time like the present! And besides, Puck's most vulnerable when he's asleep."

"True" Rachel said, waking up a bit. "Okay so do you have any prank ideas in mind?"

Tina shook her head. "Not really."

"Okay...um...oh! Why don't we find some duct tape and tape him in his sleeping bag than throw him in the lake?" Rachel suggested.

"Rachel! That's so dangerous! He could drown!" Tina frowned. "I want to prank him, not kill him!"

Rachel smiled. She had obviously been joking.

"But..." Tina began. "The taping up idea is good. That could work."

"So we tape him up but then what?" Rachel said.

"We could trap him in a closet?" Tina asked.

"For the whole trip?" Rachel laughed. "That's be great! No Puck for over a week!"

Tina giggled.

"Uh, what's going on?" Santana asked, coming in the room.

Rachel covered her mouth. "Oops did we wake you up?"

Santana nodded.

"Sorry" Tina said meekly.

"So what's going on?" Santana repeated.

"Well, Rachel is helping me get payback on Puck. We're trying to think of a prank" Tina smiled.

Santana grinned. "Cool. I volunteer my services, free of charge."

Rachel and Tina smiled. "Awesome!"

"So what's the plan so far?" Santana asked, flopping on the bed. It creaked loudly.

"Well, we thought about getting some duct tape and taping him in his sleeping bag" Rachel said.

Santana's dark eyes flashed. "Nice!"

"But we don't know what to do after that" Tina told her.

Santana thought about it for a while.

After a few minutes of deep thought, she sat up, making the bed creak again, and grinned. "I got it!"

Tina and Rachel leaned forward excitedly.

"Okay so what if we taped him up then hid everything. Like seriously everything we own. We hide the sleeping bags, our luggage, any food, the bikes, everything we have. So when he wakes up, we won't be there and nothing we own either. Then, if he gets out, he'll look around for us and we'll all be gone!"

Rachel laughed. "Ohmygosh, that's brilliant!"

Tina nodded. "Magnificent!"

Santana proudly smiled. "Yeah, I know. I am totally brilliant."

"Okay so that'll work but we shouldn't do it tonight or tomorrow. We should do it the night of our last day. So when Puck wakes up and finds us gone, he'll think we missed the plane and we're all on our way back to Ohio!" Tina exclaimed.

"He'll be so freaked!" Rachel laughed. "Oh man, this'll be perfect!"

Tina nodded. "Payback is on its way, Puckerman!"

* * *

The next morning was easier than the last. They all managed to get up fairly easy and pour themselves some cereal or toast some bread.

"Morning!" Emma chirped as she came in the cottage from the bunk house.

"Hello" Rachel smiled back at her. Since the discussion of the prank, she had been in a happy mood. Maybe it was the fact that she knew something that only two others did or maybe it was the fact that Puck was getting his karma. Either way, Rachel was happy.

"Quit with the Joker face" Santana whispered to Rachel with a warning tone.

"Sorry" Rachel said and her smile disappeared quickly.

"What do you guys want to do today?" Will asked the teens as they munched away quietly.

"Jump off the pier!" Puck grinned.

"Is that safe?" Emma asked.

Will waved his hand nonchalantly. "Good idea!"

"Hey, Mr. Schue, do you have any tennis rackets here that we can use?" Sam asked.

Will squinted as he thought about the question. "Ummm maybe..."

He went over to the rooms where the teens had put their luggage. He returned a few minutes later with six tennis rackets. They had covers on them. He also had two containers of tennis balls.

"Yay!" Rachel clapped when she saw them.

"There is only six here but a maximum of four is only allowed to play at once. So you'll have to take turns" Will said.

"Fair enough" Mercedes nodded.

"I still think it's lame" Puck said and ate his cereal with a scowl.

* * *

"Let's have a couples tournament!" Brittany suggested.

They were all at the park, parking their bikes under a tree. After breakfast, they changed into their clothes for the day and hopped on their bikes. They had the tennis rackets and balls with them.

"Good idea!" Rachel smiled and grabbed Finn's arm.

"Bad idea" Artie said.

"Why?" Rachel demanded, putting her hand on her hips and glaring at the boy.

Artie huffed. "Well, maybe you're right. Let me just ask my girlfriend. Oh, wait a minute!" He stared at Rachel, waiting for her to get the point.

"Oh" she said, when she finally did.

"Well, Puck's lady-less too. So Artie and Puck could be a team?" Mercedes said.

"You want me to date Artie?" Puck made a face. "Not a chance, bro."

"Oh, who are we kidding here?" Artie frowned a bit. "I can't play tennis."

"You can try" Tina said quietly, always the positive one.

"I'll keep score" Artie waved his hand. He tried to pretend he didn't care. But everyone saw through that. He had that look of defeat.

"Well, what if you had three players on your team?" Quinn said. She wanted Artie to play, just so he could see that he could do it. "That way you have an edge and don't have to cover as much court space, therefore being easier to move your chair and play properly."

"What if someone pushed your chair the whole time?" Mike suggested.

Artie shook his head. "Too dangerous. But I guess I'd be okay with an extra player."

"Who'll it be?" Kurt asked.

Artie glanced at the group. "Mike Chang."

"What if you and Puck face Mike and Tina though?" Rachel asked.

"Then I'll take his place" Finn said.

Quinn raised her hand. "Um, what about me?"

"What about you?" Mike asked.

"I don't have a partner" Quinn said. "I'm not a couple."

"Joe is your partner" Mercedes smiled.

"I thought that was obvious" Brittany said. She looked at the racket in her hand. "Can we go snow-shoeing after this?"

Ignoring that comment from Brittany, Quinn continued. "Joe and I are not dating."

"You might as well be" Sugar said. "You're totally wheeling him."

"Wait, what?" Joe asked. "What's that mean?"

Santana sighed and stepped closer to Joe and Quinn, who were standing near each other with only Sugar in the way. "Listen here, Quinn and Holiday Hair. You two are partners for this tennis tournament game thing. Because one, you're the only two who don't have a partner and two, the sexual tension between you two is like thick smoke in a windowless room."

Joe wordlessly nodded. Quinn frowned a bit and nodded too. Santana smirked, flipped her hair and walked away from them.

"Alright, enough chit chat!" Sugar said. "Let's play some tennis!"

They cheered.

* * *

The matches were tough. And fun. They were laughing, making ridiculous hits, diving for the ball. Once, Blaine dove for the ball and hit it before doing a summersault and landing on his back. He wasn't hurt but he was laughing so hard there were tears in his eyes.

Even Puck, who had been against playing tennis in the first place, was enjoying himself.

None of them knew how to play proper tennis; they knew the basics, but that was it. So they decided to play quick matches of three. First team to get three points wins. That way they could get a fair game in and it wouldn't take hours and hours.

They drew names to decide who goes first and faces who so it would be totally random and fair.

Finn and Rachel had first faced Joe and Quinn. Finn and Rachel won the first point. And the second point. Then Quinn decided it was time to kick it up a notch and win. Which they did. It was 2-1 for Finn and Rachel. Then Finn slammed a hard hit, which Joe just missed by an inch. It was super close. But Finn and Rachel won.

Quinn and Joe sadly walked off the court as Rachel leaped into Finn's arms happily.

The second match was Kurt and Blaine versus Rory and Sugar. None of them had any real tennis skills so it was kind of pathetic. Sugar kept screeching every time she hit the ball. Sugar and Rory won the first point but then Kurt and Blaine won the next three in a row, securing their win.

"I demand a rematch" Sugar had huffed. But she didn't get her way.

Artie, Mike and Puck were next up, against Sam and Mercedes. They made the mistake of letting Mercedes serve first. Because she had never played tennis before, it took her seven tries to properly serve the ball. They had a long rally going for a while. Sam and Mercedes ended up winning the first point. Then Artie, Mike and Puck won the second point. Then Sam and Mercedes won the third. Then Artie, Mike and Puck won the third.

"Oooh next one wins" Quinn had said from the sidelines where they all watched intently.

It was suspenseful and fast and was very entertaining for both the players and the watchers.

And after one lucky shot, the match ended and they had a winner: Artie, Mike and Puck.

Mercedes and Sam were polite losers, as they knew they probably wouldn't have won from the start. Artie, Mike and Puck fist-bumped and cheered.

The last match was Santana and Brittany versus Mike and Tina.

"We have a bit of an advantage" Santana had told Brittany. "Mike's tired out from his last match with the guys so he may be a weaker player."

The match was pretty even though Brittany had played tennis a few times when she was little so she knew a bit about the game. And despite his last match, Mike was still a good player and kept up easily. The match was intense. Santana practically growled every time she hit the ball. But Santana and Brittany were a good team and won three straight points.

So half the teams were eliminated. Finn and Rachel was to play Santana and Brittany and Artie, Mike and Puck were to play Kurt and Blaine.

Santana and Brittany against Finn and Rachel was the first match in the semi-finals. As for the rest of them watching, it was pretty split as to who they were cheering for. Rachel served first. The ball went flying to Santana who skillfully hit it back. Rachel and Santana had a strong rally going for a few minutes. And only when Santana hit the ball on an awkward angle and it went in Finn's direction did the rally end. The first point came from Finn and Rachel. As did the second. But they let that lead get to their head because after that, they weren't playing as hard and Santana and Brittany managed to win three straight games and beat them out.

Kurt and Blaine versus the three guys were the last match of the semi-finals.

"Come on. If we win, we're in the finals" Puck had said before their match. "We can beat them for sure!" They had looked over to see Kurt trying to balance a racket on his finger and Blaine pretending to use the tennis racket as an electric guitar.

But Kurt and Blaine were a better team then they would have liked. Blaine was fast and almost never missed the ball. Artie and Mike played the front row and Puck had the back row. Blaine's accuracy kept Mike running and Artie almost missed a few hits. Finally, Puck hit a hard shot that Kurt missed. It was 1-0 for the three guys. But soon after, Kurt and Blaine got a point too. Then another one. Then another one. So Kurt and Blaine won the match and we heading to the finals.

"Who would have thought that the four gay members would beat us all out" Puck commented as the opposing teams exchanged sneers.

"Breaking the stereotype!" Kurt smiled.

The disqualified teams sat along the fence that bordered all the courts while Santana, Brittany, Blaine and Kurt got ready to play. Santana served the ball. She played with a lot of grace even though she hadn't had lots of past tennis experience.

Blaine easily hit the ball back. It bounced on the ground, making that cool sound that was heard all around from other courts.

"You guys are going down!" Brittany said as Santana hit the ball back, continuing the rally.

"We'll see about that" Kurt replied with a smirk.

"Kurt, don't talk to her" Blaine said, without taking his eyes off the ball. "She's just trying to distract you!"

Kurt's eyes widened. "Clever." And with that, he didn't speak, even though Brittany blabbed on to anyone and everyone.

This was the most intense match that had happened yet. Both teams were evenly matched.

But finally a point was scored. Santana had slammed the ball over the net and Blaine, who was near the net, gave it a light tap so the ball went over but out of reach for both girls. Brittany jumped towards it nonetheless.

"Yes!" Kurt shouted happily and smiled at Blaine.

On the side lines, Rachel clapped and cheered so loudly that other people on other courts looked over.

Santana frowned and continued on with the match, putting more force into the hits. But it wasn't rewarded because only a few minutes later, Kurt got his team another point.

By now, Santana was mad. Her anger burned in her eyes, her face was red, and she glared at everyone.

"One more guys! You can do it!" Rachel cheered loudly for Kurt and Blaine. "Yay!"

The match continued. Brittany started a long rally. But then it ended. Santana and Brittany got a point.

"Boo-yah!" Brittany cheered. She did a cartwheel.

Santana smirked and pointed at Blaine and Kurt. "See? You don't mess with me. I'll get right back in your face!"

Kurt rolled his eyes and scoffed. "We're still winning."

"For now" Santana said in a cold tone.

And right after, Santana got another point. The score was tied at 2-2.

"This is the most intense thing I have seen" Sam whispered to Mercedes on the side lines. "Ever."

"What do you think of that?" Santana asked Blaine with a smirk.

"I think you've been a formidable opponent so far" Blaine politely smiled. He bounced the ball and got ready to serve.

Now, both teams were on their A-game. They had a strong rally going that kept the other onlookers' heads going left and right.

It was intense.

It was hard.

But finally, they had a winner.

Brittany swung the racket and pounded the ball over the net and to the back half of the court. Blaine went for it, but was sure it would go out. It missed the line by only an inch.

"In!" Mercedes declared. She was closest to the line and saw for a fact that it was indeed in.

"Yes!" Brittany screamed happily and dropped her racket so she could throw her hands in the air. Santana ran over and passionately kissed her girlfriend. She wrapped her arms around Brittany's slim waist and Brittany dropped her arms to Santana's shoulders.

Kurt and Blaine had defeated, sad looks. Blaine patted Kurt on the back as they walked to the side lines, where the members of New Directions were clapping.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the winners of the New Direction couples tennis tournament, Santana and Brittany!" Puck said in a deep voice.

Santana smiled and broke off the kiss. She grabbed Brittany's hand and held their hands up in the air.

"Victory!" Brittany cheered, beaming.

"We own you! We own you all! And that's how you do it in Lima Heights Adjacent!" Santana yelled happily. Then she and Brittany went over to Kurt and Blaine and hugged them both.

"You were tough players" Santana admitted to them. "I was sure you had us beat."

"Good game, Kurt! You were really good!" Brittany said, hugging him tightly.

"Thanks, Brittany" Kurt smiled.

They all walked off the courts.

"That was fun" Tina smiled. "I'm glad we did that."

"Me too" Rachel said. She did a twirl, modeling her little tennis skort. "And my skort looks adorable, am I right?"

"I'm surprised you're not wearing knee socks with it, to be honest" Kurt said sarcastically.

Rachel rolled her eyes.

"So guys" Artie said. They stopped walking in the shade of a tree. "What now?"

Puck looked at his watch. "It's almost lunch, actually."

As if on cue, Finn's stomach grumbled.

* * *

**A/N**

**I know I didn't update last week! I'm sorry! I was crazy busy! But I feel so bad! **

**But I'll try very very very hard to keep up! :(**

**Anyways, about the chapter above... I know pretty much NOTHING about tennis. Like seriously Wii Sports has taught me all I know. So sorry if the stuff is wrong. I also suck at pranks so I hope y'all find Tina and Rachel's plan satisfactory. :P **

**Anyhoo, I'm also still waiting for more answers as to if I should add OCs or not. Lemmie know! :)**

**Love you all! (insert heart here) and sorry again that this is late! **


	12. Chapter 12

Lunch was quesadillas and juice, prepared fresh when they returned to the quiet cottage.

"How was tennis?" Emma asked them, when they had all sat down with their food.

"Fun" Rachel smiled.

"Amazing" Santana said. "Britts and I won the tournement!"

Emma smiled. "Sounds fun. Yay tennis!" She clapped her hands.

"Hello, children. Back from playing tennis, I see?" Sue asked them as she walked into the room. She held a plate too, and on it was her own quesadilla, which she set on the table. Then she turned and walked into the living room, right up to Blaine.

"Hey, Eyebrows" Sue said, glaring down at Blaine, who was sitting crossed-legged with his plate in his lap. "Give me that pillow."

Blaine was sitting on a large red pillow. He looked around the room but all the other pillows were in use. "Um, I'm kind of sitting on it" he said quietly.

"And I'm kind of bearing a child" Sue replied with a dark stare. She held out her hand.

Blaine sighed, knowing that he'd never win this battle, and gave her the pillow.

With so much as a thank you, she snatched the pillow and stalked off.

"Here, Blaine, come sit here" Quinn said, shuffling down on the couch so Blaine could squeeze in the end.

Blaine gave her a grateful smile and went over to sit.

"Are we going to the beach again?" Sugar asked.

"Yes!" Finn nodded.

"Coolbeans" Mercedes smiled.

"No!" Puck yelled. "How many times do I have to tell you? I wanna jump off the pier!"

"Jeez, Puck, calm down. It's only our second day here. The pier isn't going anywhere" Rachel snapped.

Puck shrugged. "Still..."

"I think jumping off the pier would be fun" Mike said slowly.

"Aye" Rory nodded. "Let's do that today. The beach isn't going anywhere either."

Santana laughed. "Ooh, take that, Rachel!"

Rachel pouted. "All I'm saying is that the beach is much better."

"How so?" Quinn asked, both interested in her answer and amused at their silly debate.

"Well, the beach is better because there is water and sand" Rachel began.

"Water and sand?" Puck pretended to gasp. "And sand? Woah now, that's crazy."

Rachel rolled her eyes. The members of New Directions got on each other's cases all the time but some days it seemed like Puck went out of his way to annoy someone. And some days it seemed like Rachel was his only target.

"And the beach is a lot safer" Rachel said, her voice wavering.

"Because there's more people so in case of an emergency, more people can help?" Kurt asked.

"Yes. And because on a beach, you can control depth" Rachel said.

"Depth?" Tina asked.

Rachel slowly nodded. "On a beach, if you, for example, are afraid of deep water, than you don't go in so deep."

"True but that's the excitement of the pier" Mike exclaimed. "Besides, who's afraid of deep water?"

They all were quiet.

"Oh my gosh" Santana said, one eyebrow raised. "Rachel is!"

Rachel was chewing her lip and had her head down.

"You are?" Kurt asked with a surprised smile.

Rachel avoided eye contact. "Maybe the word 'afraid' is the wrong word. I'd say more like unsure or apprehensive."

"Or scared" Brittany said.

"Leave her alone" Finn said bravely. He was sitting across the room from Rachel, but he smiled lovingly at her.

She gave a half smile back.

"But I don't get it. We've gone swimming with you before, Rachel" Mercedes said.

"Yeah at a beach and pools" Rachel said. "Pools are pretty shallow for the most part and even the deep ends I can touch eventually. In a lake like Lake Winnipeg, you'll never touch the bottom. I'm not afraid of deep water, I'm afraid of not knowing how deep it is."

"Wuss" Puck said.

Rachel looked like she was about to cry.

"Quit it, Puck" Mercedes said.

"Okay how about we go down to the pier, Puck can jump in and then it'll be over" Blaine said.

"I'm jumping too" Mike grinned.

"Who isn't jumping?" Kurt asked, looking at them all.

Rachel was the first to raise her hand. Artie slowly raised his. No one else did.

"Just you two?" Kurt asked.

"I would if I could" Artie sighed. "But alas..."

"Artie, you're not missing out on everything this trip" Tina said. "You wanted to skip on tennis too."

Artie smiled sheepishly.

"Don't worry, bro. You'll get in that water if I have to throw you in" Puck smiled.

"Are you sure you wanna miss out on this, Rachel?" Sam asked.

"It's not that bad" Blaine said.

"I'll hold your hand?" Kurt offered.

Rachel shook her head. "Thanks but no thanks."

"Your loss" Santana said.

* * *

"It's hot" Brittany whined. They walked up to the edge of the pier. There was no shade anywhere near them so they had to suck it up.

"I blame global warming" Mercedes said with a laugh.

They set their towels down in a pile.

"Let's go in!" Puck had been staring down at the dark water with wide eyes. He pulled off his shirt and tossed it aside.

Everyone else smiled and took off their covering clothes. They had all put on their bathing suits before they left the cottage and put T-shirts and shorts overtop. Even Rachel had caved and put her bikini on, even though she still didn't want to jump.

"Let's all jump together" Quinn smiled.

"Of course" Sam nodded.

Mercedes handed Rachel her camera. "If you're not jumping in, take pictures, okay?"

Rachel nodded.

"Are you sure you don't wanna jump in?" Kurt asked her.

"No."

"No you're not sure or no I'm not jumping?" Kurt laughed.

"Kurt! This is a fear! Don't laugh."

"So face it!"

"No."

"Kurt, come on!" Blaine said. Kurt smiled at Rachel then ran off to join the line. Artie was being carried by Mike. He had a pool noodle in his arms, just in case.

Rachel set up the camera so it took ten pictures really quick. That way, she won't miss a thing.

"Ready?" she asked loudly.

"Yes!" they chorused.

"Jump!" Rachel yelled and they all jumped off the ledge. Rachel took the picture and the camera made ten quick clicking sounds. They landed in the water, making many splashes. Even though she wasn't in the best of moods, Rachel couldn't help but smile. She looked through the pictures she just took. They were all great. If only she was in them too, they would be even better.

"That was so fun!" Brittany yelled happily as their heads all bobbed up on the water.

"Holy Barbra Streisand" Kurt said, shaking his head so his dripping hair shook everywhere. "This is freezing!"

"Rachel! You missed out!" Joe said.

Rachel peered down at them. "Did I?"

"Yes!" Joe nodded.

"Rach, it's not too late to jump in!" Finn smiled at her.

Rachel chewed her lip again. She was hot and the water did look cool. And they all did it and were fine. Plus, she had to get over such a ridiculous fear.

"Come on in, Rachel!" Quinn said with an encouraging smile.

"Rachel! Rachel! Rachel! Rachel! Rachel!" Blaine started chanting.

Rory and Brittany joined in first then they all had joined in.

Rachel stared down at them. They were all floating in water and chanting her name. They all wanted her to do it. They all wanted her to face her fear and join them. All of them. Even Puck, who had been getting on her nerves only an hour or so ago.

How could she refuse?

"Alright, alright" Rachel said and held up her hands to signal them to stop.

They quieted down and stared at her.

"You'll jump?" Kurt asked excitedly.

Rachel smiled and nodded slowly. They cheered.

"But" Rachel began, quieting them all again. "Kurt and Mercedes. You guys have to jump with me. I need my divas when I jump."

Mercedes and Kurt eagerly complied and scrambled up the metal ladder to the top of the pier. Rachel pulled off her shirt and carefully set that and Mercedes' camera down.

"Don't worry, it's super fun" Kurt told her.

"And I'm trained in CPR" Tina called up.

Mercedes took Rachel's left hand and Kurt took her right. The members of New Directions that were already in the water counted down from ten and on one, Rachel, Mercedes and Kurt leaped over the small barrier and into the water. Rachel screamed as they jumped.

Rachel was the first to surface. Her dark hair was sopping and hung over her face. She moved it off before she spoke.

"Well?" Finn prompted.

She gave a small smile. "I didn't die. Or drown."

"Achievement!" Artie said, in an accent that sounded a lot like Principal Figgins'.

Rachel laughed. "And I am freezing cold. But, overall, it wasn't that bad. I'm not doing it again because I'm still not comfortable, but I did it. Thanks to all of you."

"Okay, yay happy times for all, that's super great, but I am getting goosebumps on my goosebumps so can we get out now?" Tina asked, her teeth chattering.

"No one's stopping you" Artie said with a laugh. Tina, Santana and several others swam over to the ladder and climbed out.

They hurried to the towels and grabbed the one that belonged to them.

"You never love a towel more then when you get out of cold water and hit cold air" Tina sighed, wrapping it around her shoulders.

"It's like being hugged by the sun" Brittany agreed.

* * *

"So ladies" Will began, walking into the living room where Sue was reading a magazine and Emma was neatly stacking the other magazines. "What do you want to do today?"

Emma shrugged. "I don't know."

"You've been inhaling too much hairspray if you think I'm going anywhere with you" Sue said without looking up from her magazine.

Will chuckled. "Fine. Emma, what would you like to do?"

"I still don't know" she replied.

"We could play tennis, go to the beach, go to Town..." Will listed off some options.

Emma thought about it. "Um, it's a nice day so how about we go for a walk on the beach?"

Will smiled and nodded. "Sure!"

Emma stood up and walked over to where Will was.

"Sue, we'll be back within an hour probably. You should go somewhere or something. Don't stay cooped up in here. Anyways, we're aiming to eat dinner by six-ish so just be back by then, okay?"

"William, you are not my babysitter" Sue replied. "Besides, I think I should be giving you that little spiel. Who knows what things you two will get up to with some privacy."

Will awkwardly chuckled. "No, Sue, I think we're okay. Besides, it's a public beach. We have dignity, you know."

"Public, shmublic. We all know what Katy Perry does on a public beach. Just don't do that" Sue glanced up at him. Will was awkwardly looking down and Emma was blushing and fixing her skirt, even though it was already straight. "Just sayin'" Sue said then returned her attention to her magazine.

Will took Emma's hand and they walked out of the cottage.

"So how are you liking Victoria Beach?" Will asked Emma as they walked down the beach, hand in hand.

"Oh my, it's so lovely. The sun it so warm and everything is so...um Canadian" Emma smiled.

Will laughed. "Yes, that's what happens in Canada."

"No but it's really nice, Will. You did a great job picking the destination."

"Thank you. Does that mean I'm in charge of picking our Honeymoon destination too?" Will smiled."

"Honeymoon?" Emma asked. "I wasn't planning on that."

"Well why not? I'm thinking somewhere exoitic like Brazil" Will said. He looked at Emma, who was smiling. She was cute when she had an honest smile; not like that fake smile she had when she was having an awkward conversation with a student or when she was trying to figure out if what Sue said was an insult or a compliment. Her hair, that wonderful orange hair, was gently blowing in the breeze. Will loved it. Will loved her.

Emma chuckled. "Exotic? To me, that says 'foreign germs'."

Will shook his head. "No, it'll be fun."

Emma laughed. Will was all about the fun. "We'll see."

Will grinned. "Cool."

"So what have you got planned for the kids this week?" Emma asked.

Will gave an even wider grin. "Some great stuff! They are gonna love it. Now I know they weren't thrilled at the idea of coming to some random cottage town in Manitoba, Canada but they will love what I have in store!"

Emma smiled. She didn't know much about his plans. He had spent hours at night back in Lima in a room only illuminated by the computer. He did a ton of reasearch for this trip and he really focused so she had made sure not to bother him. "Like what?"

Will proceeded to tell her all his plans and how they'd love it all. She had to admit, they did sound fun and she could just picture the teens laughing and enjoying themselves.

They walked pretty far down the beach for just under an hour until it was physically impossible to walk any farther. Piles of rocks blocked their path and they were too old to try and climb on them. So they turned and walked back. They talked about the trip, the kids, home, Sue...it was pretty normal conversation. But they very much enjoyed the alone time. Especially on such a pretty beach.

"Hey, Em?" Will asked as they stopped in front of the beach stairs that led back up to the cottage's pathway.

"Mhmm?" she turned and faced him.

"I love you" he said then he kissed her. His hands rested on her face. It took a moment, but eventually she kissed back.

"WHOOO! Mr. Schuester! Way to be!"

Will smiled then broke away from the kiss at the sound of one very loud girl. He knew who it was. They glanced up to the top of the stairs where all the teens stood in their bathing suits with towels in their arms and draped around their necks. They were watching their teachers. Will snuck a glance at Emma and she was blushing.

"Get some lip action!" Will heard a guy yell and twenty bucks said he had a mohawk.

Will chuckled and waved at them. They came bounding down the stairs and skipped across the hot sand to where they stood.

"Hello" Will said. "How long have you been there?"

"Not long" Santana said. "But long enough, it you ask me."

"True romance is kissing on a beach" Kurt sighed and said but he was near the back of the group so Mr. Schue didn't hear.

Will rolled his eyes at them. "How was the pier?" he asked, directing the conversation away from their kiss.

"Totally awesome!" Quinn said.

"Even Rachel jumped in" Finn said, putting his arm around Rachel.

"Great!" Will congratulated her. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we should be going. Enjoy the beach and stay safe." He took Emma's hand again and they returned to the cottage.

* * *

**A/N**

**Hello there! How are you? I hope you approve of this chapter. And the Wemma adorableness. Let's be real here. They are adorable.**

**Lol so for the last week (I swear) I'm asking if you want OCs. Tell meeeee! And I'm also open to ideas/thoughts/suggestions. :)**

**Thanks for all the reviews and thanks for saving this and me to faves list and putting this on alert. I wuv you.**


	13. Chapter 13

Will and Emma had gone for a walk. Sue had retreated to the bunk house. That left the teens alone in the cottage.

Once again, the guys and girls were split up. The girls were looking at magazines. They were all heath and fitness magazines but they were interesting. The guys were near the TV, watching baseball again. Kurt and Blaine were the only guys not watching baseball, but they were also away from the girls. Kurt had taken the deck of cards and was teaching Blaine how to play Solitaire on the little card table.

"This looks hard" Blaine said, as Kurt set out the cards.

"It's not." Kurt set out the seven piles. "The point of the game is to separate all the cards into the four suits: aces, hearts, spades and clubs. But before that, you must categorize them by colour and numerical order. So now you see, you have seven groups and a face up card on top each time. Each pile has one more card than the last."

"Why?" Blaine asked.

"I don't know. That's just how the game works. Why is the sky blue?" Kurt replied with a light giggle.

"I think it has to do with clouds and reflecting water or sun or something" Blaine answered.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "You're such a nerd."

"Thank you."

"Now, after you've set up the cards, you have this stack of cards. But first check your seven face up cards for any moves. Do you see any?" Kurt asked.

Blaine studied the cards. "No."

"Erh!" Kurt said, imitating a gameshow buzzer. "Wrong. There are two moves. That ace can be moved up and start the first group. And this black four can go to that red five over here."

Blaine moved the cards as Kurt instructed. Then he flipped the new cards over. Another move came up. Blaine right away moved it.

"Good job!" Kurt said with a smile. "See, not so hard."

"So far."

Kurt held up the stack of cards in his hand. "Now for this part. You're out of moves now so you have to find more. Take the top three cards."

Blaine took them.

"Now you can only 'unlock' the other two cards in this set of three when you use the first. Can you use it?" Kurt asked.

Blaine looked at the the nine of clubs. "No."

"So put it down over here and move on to the next three. Ah, see, you can use that queen there. So now you have access to the second card" Kurt told Blaine.

Kurt instructed him thought the whole game until all four suit groups had been started and the stack of cards was gone. All that was left to was order the card properly until they were all sorted. Blaine had gotten the hang of the game and was doing it by himself. There were a couple times during the game where he hadn't seen a move and Kurt had to point it out to him.

"Done!" Blaine triumphantly exclaimed and slapped the last card into the pile.

Kurt clapped his hands. "Yay!"

Blaine hugged him. It was a sideways hug and Kurt's arms were pinned down to his sides so he couldn't hug Blaine back.

"Blaine, you have a grip of iron" Kurt said as Blaine squeezed him.

"Dalton Fight Club" Blaine grinned. "Too bad you never joined."

"How could I? I hadn't heard about it!"

"Exactly" Blaine laughed and loosened his grip. "Thanks for teaching me this game. It's fun."

"No problem. Let's play again. You were lucky that you won. Sometimes, you have no moves and can't continue" Kurt said and Blaine collected the cards into one big deck again.

* * *

An hour later, the situation was the same. Will and Emma hadn't returned yet and Sue was still hidden away. The teens were still basically doing the same thing except the groups weren't so split. Some of the girls went over to the TV and they were all watching some family movie. The other girls were painting their nails. Quinn had brought a whole bunch of nail paint.

Kurt and Blaine had played many more rounds of Solitaire and now Blaine was very good at it and hardly ever missed a move. Now the two of them were watching the movie with the others but were also listening to Blaine's iPod and mouthing along to the words dramatically.

They were all so immersed in what they were doing that no one noticed Finn get up. He had been watching the movie with the others and Rachel was painting Mercedes' nails across the room. Finn sat next to Rachel and kissed her cheek.

"Meet me outside by the beach in ten minutes" he said then got up. Rachel nodded. No one else even noticed him, not even Mercedes because she was discussing Twilight and it's stupidity with Tina.

Rachel had no idea what Finn had planned but she was willing to find out. So he hurried up with Mercedes' left hand, doing a sloppier job with it than the right hand. Then she set down the little nail brush in the little bottle and stood up.

This was noticed.

"Where are you going?" Mercedes asked.

"To get a drink of water" Rachel lied. But the answer pleased Mercedes and she didn't ask anymore questions. Rachel went into the kitchen, opened and shut a cupboard just in case anyone was listening then tip-toed out of the kitchen's other entrance to the door. Luckily the TV was facing her so no one saw her slip on her flip-flops, grab her sweater which was hanging on one of the many hooks, and quietly leave the cottage. She was careful closing the screen door and walking on the porch. She practically crawled under any windows so no one saw her. When she had made it into the clear, she hurried down the pathway. She put on the sweater as she ran. It was cool out.

Finn was sitting on the top of the bank. He was looking out at the water, which was dark and calm. When he heard Rachel approach, he turned and smiled.

"Hey" he said.

"Uh, hi" she said. She remained standing and looked around. What on earth was he out here for?

"Are you gonna sit?" Finn asked, a silly smile on his face.

Rachel shrugged and sat down next to him, legs dangling off the edge. "What are we doing out here exactly?" she asked.

"I thought it'd be cool to see the sunset" he said. "Kinda romantic, huh? There aren't many pretty sunsets in Lima so this would be neat, I guess."

Rachel smiled. "Yeah! Good idea." It was safe to say she fell just a bit more in love with him just now.

"Did anyone ask why you left?" Finn asked.

"Nah, they didn't notice" Rachel said.

"Good. I was afraid they'd all wanna come see too and it'd ruin the moment" Finn chuckled.

"I know!" Rachel laughed.

They sat in silence for a few moments. The sun was moving slowly down right before their eyes. If they turned around, the sky would be dark already behind them. But in front of them it was a magical array of colours. There was pinks and oranges and bits of blue and yellow in the sky. It was like a picture you'd see in a museum. The sun was a bright ball of orange.

Rachel shivered involuntarily.

"Are you cold?" Finn asked.

"Not really. It's just a bit cool" she answered.

"I didn't bring a sweater or anything to give you" Finn said sadly, feeling like he had let her down.

"I brought my own" Rachel said, pointing to the pink knitted sweater she wore.

"Good planning" Finn said and wrapped his arms around her so she shifted over a bit, closer to him.

Rachel rested her head on his shoulder. "I love you. I know I probably don't say it enough, but I do love you. I know I'm a pain sometimes and I know I can be dramatic and all but even when I am, I still love you."

Finn laughed. "I know. I love you too, dramatics and all."

"Are you scared?" Rachel asked a moment later. "Of what's to come?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like in a few months. We'll be in New York, whether we make it in the schools or not" Rachel said. "I know Tina made us swear we wouldn't talk about the future on this trip, but..." she trailed off.

Finn took a deep breath. "I guess. I'm not scared as much as unsure. What will we do? Where will we live? I'm not cut out for a big city like New York and I don't know what will happen."

"But you won't be alone" Rachel said. "I'll be with you the whole entire time. For better or for worse. We can manage, right?"

"Can we?" Finn asked.

"Yes. Because that's what happens when two people love each other as much as we do. They manage. It works."

Finn smiled and kissed her head. "Okay. And as much as the idea of moving to the Big Apple is a but scary, I'm excited. It's a new chapter in our lives. The newest part in the Finn and Rachel saga."

"The Rachel and Finn saga" Rachel corrected with a laugh.

Finn laughed. By now the sun was almost touching the water line on the horizon. The water glimmered with the sun's light. Rachel wished she brought her camera because it was a perfect moment.

They watched quietly as the sun slowly disappeared on the horizon. Like it was sinking into the water. It was quiet all around them and the only sound Rachel could hear was Finn's deep breathing, the rustle of leaves on the trees behind them as light winds blew and the sound of water gently rippling down on the beach. As the sun went out of sight, darkness took over the sky and no longer were the swirls of oranges and pinks visible. The water was back to its dark state.

"That was beautiful" Rachel sighed happily when the water had totally engulfed the sun.

"It was" Finn agreed. "I'm glad we came out to see it."

"I'm glad you had the idea" Rachel said. "Thank you." She wrapped her arms around Finn's torso and hugged him.

They sat like that for a few minutes until all evidence of the sunset was gone from the sky and it was dark and silent.

"I really hate to say this, but they will all be thinking some pretty inappropriate thoughts if we don't show up soon" Finn said.

Rachel laughed. "You're right."

Finn stood up and helped Rachel to her feet. They linked hands then walked back to the cottage.

* * *

"Look, a sunset" Kurt told Blaine. He had stood up to go find an iPod charger and he caught a glimpse of the bright orange sun out the window and over the lake.

"How pretty" Blaine smiled and stood up to get a better view.

They walked closer to the window.

"You know what this makes me think of?" Kurt asked, a slight giggle in his voice.

Blaine thought about it. "Let me guess: Sunset Boulevard?"

"Yes! You know me so well" Kurt smiled and linked his hand with Blaine's.

"Well I should hope so" Blaine said. "Aside from Rachel and Mercedes, I am your best friend, right?"

Kurt paused. "Ummm...yeah, right. Sure."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "Oh, ouch!"

Kurt laughed. "I'm joking. You are my best friend in every way. I can only deal with Rachel for like five hours maximum at a time before I get a headache. But I know I can deal with you forever."

"Oh, good. That's how long I'm planning on sticking around for" Blaine said. "Maybe longer."

"Longer? Wow, you must really love me."

"Yeah, I guess I do" Blaine said and stared at Kurt. He had lost the joking tone in his voice.

Kurt didn't miss this. He glanced away from the sunset and looked at Blaine, who was staring back at him.

"I love you too" Kurt said quietly. "And forever sounds really good."

Blaine smiled lovingly at him then glanced back at the sunset. It was almost over.

When the sun was gone, Kurt and Blaine went back and sat down, hands still intertwined.

Five minutes later, the screen door slid open and Finn and Rachel stepped in.

"Hey it's Finn and Rachel" Tina said as they came in.

"Where were you two?" Mercedes asked with a small smirk.

"I didn't even know you left" Rory admitted.

"Ninja" Brittany whispered with wide eyes.

Rachel smiled at them then looked at Finn. He was grimacing awkwardly, but when he caught her eye, he smiled.

"We were out watching the sunset" Finn said, pointing with his thumb to the window.

"Sunset?" Puck asked. "You left to see the sun?"

"Yes. It was so pretty" Rachel smiled.

Kurt nodded. "We saw it too."

"So gorgeous" Blaine agreed.

"Aw, you should have told us" Mercedes said. "I would have liked to see it."

"They'll probably be more" Finn said.

"I hope so" Tina said. She too wanted to see the sunset.

Finn and Rachel sat down on the floor. Rachel draped her legs over Finn's.

"So..." Sam began, looking at Finn and Rachel. "What else did you do out there besides watch the sunset?"

There was no hiding the smirk on his face.

* * *

**A/N**

**Hey! I don't have much to say except that last night's Glee was painful. So this chapter is my way of trying patch the broken hearts out there. :P ILY all! Shout out to **that70sfinchelgleek** who asked for Finchel. :) I hope you liked this chapter. **

**Thank you everyone for reading. And I hope your fangirl hearts heal!**


	14. Chapter 14

The sun was pouring in the windows when Will decided to wake up the kids.

He clapped his hands loudly. "Wake up, guys! It's another beautiful day so let's not waste it sleeping."

Several disaproving grunts were heard.

"Upitty up up!" Will continued loudly.

Slowly, they all managed to get up and move like zombies to the kitchen and rustle up some food.

"It's cold" Kurt said and grabbed a blanket off the couch to wrap around himself.

"Manitoba mornings" Will said. "They're chilly. You have to remember that we farther up north now."

No one wanted to hear his geography lesson.

"Kurt, wanna share that blanket with me?" Rachel asked with a sweet smile.

"I have a feeling that if I say no you'll either steal it from me all together or pester me until I say yes" Kurt said.

Rachel didn't deny this. "So you should cut your losses and just say yes"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Fine."

Rachel grinned and sat next to him.

Blaine came into the living room with a plate of neatly jammed toast. "Aw, no blanket room for me I see" he said with a sad face when he saw Rachel and Kurt huddled under the thick blanket.

"Sorry" Kurt said.

"Come sit in the sun here with us" Brittany said. She and Rory were sitting on the couch by the window and it was being warmed by the sun that was pouring through the windows.

"Thanks" Blaine smiled. "I'd rather sit with you two anyways." He stuck his tongue out at Kurt who laughed.

They devoured their food. And were talking about something random. Well, talking was an understatement. It was more like loudly debating.

"Guys, guys, guys!" Will said, trying to calm them down. He had a mug of coffee in his hands. "Quiet down a moment. I've something to ask you."

They all shut up right away.

Will sipped his coffee then smiled at them. "What's you favourite berry?"

"Rachel Berry" Rachel said.

"Burberry" Kurt said.

"Halle Berry" Puck smiled, highfiving Sam.

"Blackberry Curve" Tina laughed.

Those clearly were not the answers Will had expected.

He rolled his eyes. "You guys are impossible."

They all laughed.

"I was hoping you'd all say blueberry" Will sighed.

"Why?" Quinn asked.

"Because I was thinking that today, we go blueberry picking!" Will grinned.

"Yes!" Brittany smiled.

"Ew" Sam said. "No offense, but that sounds super boring."

"It sounds fun" Mercedes said. "I think that's a great idea."

Kurt raised his hand in the air.

"Yes Kurt?" Will said.

"What are we going to do with the blueberries we picked?" he asked.

"Eat them?" Joe answered, but his answer was more of a question.

"Oh! Can we put them in a bucket and step on them and make blueberry juice?" Brittany asked. "All squished up!"

Will sipped his coffee. It was times like this where he sometimes wished he had just let them sleep all day.

"Why are you asking, Kurt?" Will asked.

"I was hoping we could make a pie" Kurt said. "That'd be fun."

"And after do you think that we could sweep the floor? And dust the furniture?" Puck asked in a girly, mocking voice.

Finn and Sam were rolling on the floor laughing.

"Cut it out" Quinn scolded, glaring at them.

Will rubbed his temples. "Okay, guys, quiet down. Shhhh."

They all quieted down for the most part. Snickers were still emitted from Puck and a few of the guys.

Will took a deep breath. "So I take it you all do not want to go blueberry picking?"

The chatter started up again. Will held out his hands, a silent signal for them to stop. Eventually, they did.

"Look, I have no problems if only some of you wanted to go. I wish you'd all come but I understand if more of our rowdier people should want to go do something else. I think blueberry picking is a fun, relaxing and neat thing to do. Not to mention the fresh air and sunlight you get. Besides, I doubt you've all done it before. And I think baking a few pies would be a wonderful idea. So Kurt, if you want to lead us in that, for I have no experience in that at all; that's what the frozen food and dessert section in the store is for, I think that's great. But again, it's up to you. No one's making you do anything."

Quinn waved her hand. "Shouldn't we find out if there are even blueberries to pick? Are they in season?"

"They are" Will nodded. "I was talking to a lady in Town yesterday and she said the picking's great."

"Okay so who wants to go?" Santana said. "Raise you hand if you do."

Rachel, Kurt, Quinn, Blaine, Finn, Mercedes, Rory, Joe, Brittany, Sugar, Santana, Artie and Tina raised their hands.

"So you three guys don't want to?" Will asked Mike, Puck and Sam.

"Have I not made that obvious?" Puck snorted. "I can't believe some of you do want to. That's so dumb."

"Mike, come on!" Tina pleaded her boyfriend. "Most of us wanna go. You should come."

Mike tilted his head. "Sitting in a forest picking berries doesn't sound too thrilling."

Finn stood up. "Maybe so. I actually think it'll be hot and boring. But I'm going because most of the group is. This is our vacation and we should spend it together. Even if we're doing something lame, we'll make it fun. It's like when we drove to Chicago for Nationals. That was a long, boring bus ride but we made it fun and wild and I'd do it again fifty times over. So maybe blueberry picking will be long and lame. We'll make it fun. So do you three really want to miss out on that? Besides, blueberries are really yummy!"

"Hear, hear" Kurt said, silently applauding his step-brother.

"Preach, Finn" Mercedes smiled at him.

Mike grinned. "Oh, alright. I'm in."

Sam nodded. "Same."

"Puck?" Rachel asked, staring at him. The were awaiting his answer.

"You're all tripping if you think I'm staying behind by myself. No way am I doing that. So fine, I guess I'm come picking" Puck said.

Sugar clapped. "Yay the whole gang is going!"

Will smiled. "Great. I'll find some baskets and we'll go in an hour!"

* * *

"Is it far?" Rachel asked, getting on her bike. They were all in the yard, getting on their bikes. In their hands were baskets of all shapes and sizes.

"It's just past the parking lot" Emma said. She was coming along as well but had made it very clear to Will before hand that she was not going to eat anything until they were washed properly.

"Oh" Rachel said.

Will started peddling out of the cottage area. "Follow me!" he called.

They followed him out onto the road.

Sue and Emma were in behind. They had convinced Sue to come and get some fresh air. As it turns out, she likes blueberries and used to go pick them with Jean often.

They rode for a while, down the dusty, rocky roads and surrounded by the wall of trees. The sun was bright, which was great for the morning. But it wasn't really hot yet.

They rode past the parking lot, down the road and into what looked like no where. There were no cottages or people or anything but trees.

"Are we lost?" Rory asked, looking back at the parking lot which was small in the distance.

"Mr. Shue seems to know where he's going" Rachel answered, looking at the teacher, who was coasting down the road and whistling some tune.

Finally Will came to a stop and they pulled over near a large field and a bunch of trees.

"This is it?" Santana asked. She looked unimpressed.

"Yes! So park your bikes here and let's go. Feel free to split up and go around here. But don't go too far. You must be in shouting distance" Will instructed them.

"Can we eat the blueberries?" Quinn asked.

"Of course" Will nodded.

"Are there bears in this forest?" Kurt asked, peering into the trees.

"Unlikely" Emma said. "Don't worry."

"And don't eat so much blueberries that you blow chunks. I'm looking at you, Tot Girl" Sue said, pointing at Mercedes, who looked very offended.

Will rolled his eyes. "Have fun and pick lots!"

The kids all turned and split up.

"Hey look" Sugar said. She wore a red hoodie and had the hood up. In her hands was a brown basket. "I'm Little Red Riding Hood!"

Sam laughed and jumped in her path with a growl.

Sugar played along. "My, what big eyes you have."

"The better to see you with" Sam laughed.

Sugar grinned. "My, what big lips your have."

"That's because he's a trouty mouth" Santana pointed out with a smirk.

Sam rolled his eyes. Santana's name for him wasn't an insult anymore.

Finn looked down. "I don't see any blueberries."

"There's some over here" Kurt called. He was a few meters away from the group and had found a bunch of bushes littered with fresh, ripe berries.

"Cool!" Finn ran over.

"Blue berries don't grow on the ground" Kurt said. "There are bushes. See?"

"Sick!" Finn picked a few and dropped them into his empty ice cream container. They made a fun 'plunk' sound.

"They're so good!" Blaine smiled, eating a handful of them.

"We're here to pick, not to eat" Rachel scolded and proudly showed him her pickings. She only had about twenty berries, but that was eighteen more than Blaine had.

"Who made you the berry police?" Blaine joked and just to bug her, ate the two berries in his bucket.

Rachel glared at him. "You've got quite and attitude, Blaine Anderson."

"Thank you" Blaine bowed with a silly grin.

"Rachel, lay off my boyfriend" Kurt said.

"Sorry" Rachel said. She turned to Blaine and gave him a smile. "I'd appreciate it of you actually picked some berries. I am looking forward to some pies."

"Okay. But to be fair, we've been here for five minutes. And you don't have any picked yet either" Blaine said.

"Are you blind? I clearly have some right here!" Rachel yelled and showed him her bucket. Blaine, while sporting a grin, slapped the bucket out of her hands. It fell on the ground and the few berries she had picked, fell out and landed on the pile of dirt.

"BLAINE ANDERSON!" Rachel screamed. She was mad.

Blaine smiled. "Sorry, arm spasm!" he shrugged and bolted off. He grabbed Kurt's arm as he ran, pulling him along.

"Blaine! What's going on?" Kurt asked. He had missed the last interaction between Blaine and Rachel.

"The wrath of Rachel Berry has been released!" Blaine said with a laugh. He clearly had no regrets about what he did.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Why am I friends with either of you?"

* * *

Two hours later, and many, many, many berries eaten, the teenagers and three adults were still picking blueberries. They had quiet a haul. The more determined pickers like Rachel, Kurt, Tina, Will, Emma, Artie and a few others had almost filler their buckets. Then there were the ones who ate three for every two they picked. They were the ones with purple stains on their lips and bits of berry stuck in their teeth. And lastly were the ones who made it all fun. They walked around, having a ball and picking berries only when they came across a large bunch of them.

Quinn had a handful of berries in her hand and threw them at Joe, who was a few meters away and tried to catch them in his mouth. So far he was failing.

"You suck at this" Quinn laughed.

"Maybe you suck at throwing" Joe replied.

Quinn rolled her eyes. She had six berries in her hand still and she threw them all at once. Joe managed to catch one in his mouth.

"See? I got it!" Joe grinned.

"Winner" Quinn said.

Joe smiled and moved over so he sat next to Quinn on some dead old log.

"It's quiet out here" Joe said. They couldn't hear the voices of any others.

"Yeah. Kinda peaceful, right?" Quinn said. She felt herself blush. Joe was sitting really close to her and this was the first moment they'd had alone the whole trip.

Joe hummed in agreement.

Quinn glanced at Joe. His nice brown eyes were on her.

The moment their eyes met, they had a connection. Quinn and Joe both moved in for a kiss. They both knew now was the time. And the were just inches away. They could feel the other's breath. They were so close to that magic moment.

"Oh! There you guys are! We were- woah! What's going on?" Sugar popped through the trees to find Joe and Quinn almost about to kiss.

They jumped apart, blushing madly.

"Hey Sugar" Quinn sighed.

So close.

* * *

**A/N**

**Hello people of fanfiction! I hope you like the chapter. :D **

**And that's about all I have to say. You know those days when you're just at a loss for words? Yeah that's me now. And oh, look! As I awkwardly tried to explain why I have nothing to say, I said something. Yay.**

**So if you have any suggestions or ideas or something, hit me up. I'll try to fit it in. And don't worry, I'll write bits for each couple soon enough. :) **

**Love you all! :D**


	15. Chapter 15

"Whisk, Brittany. Not a spoon, a whisk!" Kurt said, grabbing the spoon the girl was holding and shoving a whisk in her hand.

"Sorry" Brittany said, but judging by the dazed look on her face, she probably had no idea what her mistake was.

The teens were all in the kitchen making pies. Well, not all of them. It was a small kitchen and there was not enough space. So they decided to have a competition. Half of them were going to make a few pies and half would make a few more. Then the adults would taste and judge.

It was Quinn's idea to do it this way. But they're all so competitive that they all agreed. Of course, everyone wanted Kurt on their team. But Will split them up and Kurt ended up being on a team with Sugar, Brittany, Puck, Joe, Finn, Tina and Mike.

The other team consisted of Blaine, Quinn, Mercedes, Artie, Santana, Rory, Rachel and Sam.

Kurt's team was baking first. Kurt was in charge and made sure nothing went wrong. He had a baking reputation to keep!

"Is this enough flour, Kurt?" Tina asked, pointing to the bowl.

"Yes" Kurt said. "Finn! What are you doing? That's not baking soda!"

Finn shrugged. "Sorry..."

"Honestly, can't any of you do anything right?" Kurt sighed.

"I'll have you know that I successfully washed the berries" Mike said.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Congrats. Hold on, let me take your picture for the paper" he said sarcastically

"I want my picture taken" Sugar said. "Any paper would be lucky to have my picture. I'm a fine piece of real estate."

"Well can you move your land away? You're blocking the fridge" Puck shoved her out of the way.

Finally, their pies were made. Kurt made sure to do anything that required some skill. Luckily Tina and Joe had some previous pie-making experience.

"Pie-making with Grandma Hart is a Christmas tradition" Joe had said when Kurt complimented him on his pie crust's uniform look.

"I bake for fun" Tina shrugged.

"Which is great because I have no baking skills at all" Mike laughed.

The kitchen smelled great when they were done.

"I can't wait to eat some pie" Finn said. "They smell amazing!"

"Here's a fun fact" Brittany began, twirling her hair in her hands. "Unicorns smell like pie. The colour of their mane matches the kind of pie they smell like."

"What about unicorns with rainbow manes?" Tina smirked.

"That means they can change their smell whenever they feel like it" Brittany said.

"How do you know this? Have you actually ever seen a unicorn?" Mike asked. He knew whatever she said would be ridiculous but sometimes it was fun to play along with her randomness.

"Yes. They come to me in a dream every night" Brittany said. "Now who wants to play cards while the others bake their pies?"

They all sat around the card table and Puck dealt the cards. He did it effortlessly as if he had a job at a casino.

* * *

"Who here has ever baked anything?" Rachel demanded as her group took over the kitchen.

Quinn, Blaine and Rory raised their hands.

"And the rest of you?" Rachel asked. She wanted legit answers as to why her teammates were not going to be a big help.

"Baking is lame. Why bake when you get go to the store and get professional goods?" Santana asked.

"I can't reach the counter" Artie laughed. "Plus my mom's a great baker so she does all the baking for us."

"I've made Rice-Crispy squares" Sam said. "Does that count as baking?"

"No" Quinn laughed.

"I burn water" Mercedes said.

Rachel sighed. "Well let's elect a team leader. I nominate myself. In fact, I would be honored to do it."

"I vote Blaine" Artie said. "Kurt said you baked him cookies a few months ago and he said they were fantastic."

Blaine blushed and smiled modestly.

"Do we really need a team leader?" Quinn asked. "It's pie baking not a hockey game."

"A team leader means organization which means productivity which means effective work which means success. Yes, we do. Do you want to win? Kurt is a phenomenal baker. We will lose unless we have a leader."

"Okay fine you can be leader" Mercedes sighed.

Rachel beamed. "As leader, I vow to help our team reach our goal and we shall bake the best-"

"Oh, shut it" Santana snapped. "Who knows some good pie recipes?"

"I took the health and nutrition course in grade ten. We made pies in that class" Quinn said.

"Great. Let's get some ingredients out" Sam said.

"I think we should have a better plan than that before we start" Rachel frowned.

But everyone had moved towards the fridge and cupboards to grab food supplies and bowls.

"We said she could be the leader...not that she could act on it" Mercedes whispered to Rory, who snickered.

* * *

"I hope you know that you're going down" Finn said.

"Oh, Finn" Sam smirked. "Always with the smack talk yet you have no game."

"We've got game. In fact, we have three tins of game right here" Finn pointed to his team's three blueberry pies.

Sam scoffed. "Those probably taste like cardboard."

"Hey! No one insults the pies of Kurt Hummel" Kurt said.

"Hey Kurt! Your pies suck!" Santana called.

"You suck!" Kurt replied with an eye roll.

"Alright, alright" Will said. "The judges are ready to eat!"

"Can I just say that these look magnificent! You guys really did a great job!" Emma said.

"They smell wonderful" Will agreed.

"Thank you" Rachel smiled warmly.

Brittany gave a loud, fake cough. As she pretended to cough, she muttered "kiss up" and all the teens laughed.

Quinn cut a pie for her team and Tina cut it for her team. They each set out three pieces.

"Who's shall we try first?" Emma asked, looking at the pies. Both teams' piece were great looking. They had lots of gooey blueberries pouring out of it.

"Mmmm. Let's eat this group's pie first" Will said.

"That's ours" Blaine whispered to Rachel.

"Ready?" Emma asked, a bite of pie poised on her fork.

"One, two, three!" Will said and on three, Will and Emma put their piece of pie in their mouth.

Sue, however, didn't.

"Coach Sylvester, aren't you gonna try the pie?" Finn asked. Sue had the pie on her fork, ready to eat, but she stared at Will and Emma instead.

"I will. I'm waiting to see if it's poisoned" Sue said. "They'll die first."

"We won't die" Will said, chewing. "Guys, this was really good."

Sue sighed and ate the pie. She kept a straight face the whole time.

"So whaddya think?" Mercedes asked eagerly.

"No, don't answer that! Try ours. It's much better anyways" Puck said and pushed their plates of pie towards them.

Again Will and Emma counted down before trying it and again Sue waited to see it they died.

"I am not taking an risks. I am pregnant after all" she said when Kurt urged her to eat it. But soon enough she ate it.

"Well? Well? Who won?" Sugar asked.

"Just tell them we did" Mike said. "It's the truth!"

"Are you kidding? We won. Yours is all runny and gross" Santana said.

"Well your crust is too crispy" Tina said.

"Quiet!" Will said. "Go into the kitchen and give me a moment to confer with my fellow judges."

The teens all went into the kitchen, still exchanging rude remarks and insults.

"What's your pick?" Will asked the two ladies in a hushed voice.

"I liked this one" Emma said and pointed to one.

"Me too" Sue nodded. "I mean, they both tasted like tree bark and I wouldn't be surprised if we all come down with some exotic illness in the next twenty four hours because we don't know what pesticides were on those berries, but if I had to choose one, I'd be this one."

"So I think it's unanimous" Will said. "And Sue, they were wild berries and they were washed."

"Or so they said."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Let's call them back in."

"We have reached our decision!" Will said loudly. He knew they were trying to eavesdrop.

They came rushing right in with eager, hopeful looks.

"First off, I'd like to say that they were both very good. You all should be very proud of yourselves" Will said.

"Yadda yadda yadda, we're so talented, yeah okay" Santana said. "But which team won?"

Will shot Santana a glare.

"There was one clear winner" Will said. "The pie had a great flavour and texture and had a certain special something."

"And this pie was the pie from the team of Quinn, Mercedes, Rachel, Sam, Blaine, Rory, Artie and Santana" Emma said.

But all the names said after 'Quinn' were drowned out by excited screaming and disappointed booing.

"We won!" Rachel screamed, jumping up and down. She hugged everyone on her team tightly.

"Are you kidding me?" Kurt demanded. "We lost to a bunch of amateurs?

"Well technically, you were the only one who wasn't an amateur" Tina said.

"Whoo-hoo!" Blaine cheered and gave a silly hip-thrusting victory dance. He was happy but was cheering extra loudly just to rub it in Kurt's face. Not in a mean way; in a loving competitive way.

Kurt cracked a smile.

"Sorry guys, but their pie had such a unique flavour."

"Secret ingredient" Quinn flashed a grin.

"Probably poison" Sue mumbled.

"Tell me" Kurt begged.

"No way" Artie said. "Hence the secret part."

"You wanna know, HONEY?" Blaine whispered to Kurt. He put extra emphasis on the last word. Kurt missed that part.

"Yes! Tell me. I want to know!" Kurt said. He hated not knowing something.

"Do you really wanna know, HONEY?"

"How many times do I have to say yes?"

"Just making sure, HONEY."

"Why do you keep calling me th-" Kurt's eyes lit up. "Oh... The secret ingredient is honey?"

Blaine nodded and put a finger to his lips.

Kurt smiled. "Thank you."

"So now what?" Joe asked.

"Lunch?" Puck said hopefully.

"Who needs lunch when you have pie?" Artie laughed.

"No you are not eating all six pies! We can save them for tomorrow" Will said

"Or after lunch" Brittany said.

"Or after lunch" Will repeated. He wasn't even going to bother arguing with them all.

* * *

**A/N**

**Hello people. I'd like to first off say that I have never ever baked a pie and so if this is wrong, my apologies. I also don't like pie. :S**

**Here's a hint at what you'll see in the next chapter: a phone. Oooh I'm sure the suspence is KILLING you. :P**

**Luv ya! **


	16. Chapter 16

After a lunch of sandwiches and pie, the kids went back into Town for a few hours. They hung out at the park for a bit then came back to the cottage where they decided to watch TV and play cards.

It was a relaxed day compared to the past few days, which was totally fine to them because they were tired. As much as they weren't complaining, they could all agree that sleeping on the floor isn't the best. It was also a bit cooler that day so the girls didn't want to go in the water.

The adults went shopping again. The kids' baking had wiped them clean of baking supplies and they had been planning on waffles for dinner.

The waffles were delish. They were warm and fluffy and dripping with syrup.

"The real Canadian stuff" Quinn said as she poured it on her plate.

"It doesn't taste like plastic" Finn grinned.

"I'll have to buy a bunch of bottles to take home" Tina said. "Or is that illegal?"

"Illegal smegal" Puck said. "Taste like this deserves to be smuggled."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "First off, no, it's not illegal. And second, Puck, when you inevitably end up in jail, don't expect any visits from us."

* * *

After the yummy dinner of waffles, they were all playing cards again. Sam had found a poker set and they were playing an intense game.

"Hey guys" Will said coming in the room.

"How's it hangin', Mr. Schue?" Mercedes asked happily.

"Pretty grand" Will smiled. "Now listen, I think it'd be a great idea if you all called your parents. Just let them know that you're fine and we got in okay and stuff. We only have one phone so you'll have to all take turns."

"Alright" Kurt nodded, without taking his eyes off his hand of cards.

"Great" Will smiled and walked back into the kitchen.

Finn glanced at the phone. It was one of those old box ones with the curly cord. Those still exist?

"Who's going first" he asked.

"I will" Artie said. "I forfeit this round anyways." He wheeled over to the phone and dialed his number. "Hey Mom, it's me...yes, Artie...it's great, actually. Sunny and fun...fine, no trouble at all. Mr. Schue booked us the front of the plane...yes, we're all fine...okay, love you too...bye."

"Me next!" Sugar jumped up and took the phone from Artie. She dialed. "Hi Daddy...guess where I'm calling from? Canada!...yeah, I'm good...well, most of them haven't annoyed me too much. Rachel Berry is still a pain in the rump-"

"Hey!" Rachel glared at her. She was only across the room and they could all hear the conversation clearly.

"Sorry Aspergers" Sugar shrugged at her. She spoke back into the phone. "...Yeah, we've been swimming and berry picking and tennis...yes, okay, bye Daddy! See you when I come home!"

Sam took the phone from Sugar.

"Hey Stacy! How's it going?...I miss you too. And your brother. Say, is Mom or Dad around?...Thank you! See you soon!...Hey Mom!...yes, I'm good...so fun. We've gone to the beach and played tennis...Mom, they're like family to me. We get along fine...Say hi to Dad for me...Alright, bye. Love you." Sam pressed the tone button to hang up and held up the receiver. "Who's next?"

"Kurt, you or me?" Finn asked.

Kurt shrugged. "I don't care."

"Okay, I will then" Finn said and stood up, taking the phone from Sam. Finn dialed a few numbers. "Kurt is the last number a two or a one?"

"It's a two. How do you not know that yet?" Kurt scoffed.

"That's what contact lists are for" Finn replied. "Since we moved I never bothered to learn it."

Kurt sighed. Finn was sweet and kind but some days he was as dumb as a post. How Rachel managed was a mystery to them all.

"Hey Burt" Finn said. "...Yeah, we got in fine...Sunny so far...It's cool. Kinda small for all of us, but we don't mind...Kurt's fine...Blaine too... No, he's actually okay with the rugged aspect of it. At first he wasn't. It took a while for him to get used to it...Okay just tell my mother I called...No thanks. She'll just ask me a million questions like if I'm wearing sunscreen. You know how moms are...okay then. Take care...Bye."

Finn sat back down. "You father says hello and that he's glad you're managing in a cottage."

Kurt smiled. "Quite astonishing, isn't it?"

Rachel grabbed the phone. She dialed and held the phone to her ear. "Hey! It's Rachel. I'm just calling to say that everything's fine. We're all happy and having a blast here in Canada. I miss you both. See you when we return and I'll probably try calling in a few days. Maybe. Love you! Bye!" Rachel hung up.

"Not home?" Finn asked her.

She shook her head and shrugged. "Must be out somewhere."

"Or maybe they don't want to talk to you" Rory said with a smile.

Rachel didn't even reply to that.

"I'll call next" Tina said. She dialed. "Hey Mom. How are you?...I'm fine...Yes, everyone is...The weather's great...No I'm not bringing you some sand. What am I to put it in?...No I'm not putting sand in a bag...Look, if you can hang up now, I'll bring you a rock...Yes, I swear...Okay bye mom."

"A rock?" Quinn asked with a smirk as she took the phone from Tina.

Tina rolled her eyes. "She wants some Canadian memento that's pretty enough to display on our table at Thankgiving and other family holidays. She wanted sand but that's not going to happen."

"Moms" Quinn sympathized.

"They're crazy" Tina laughed and sat back down.

Quinn dialed. "Hello mother" she said. "How are you?...Canada is good. Yes, the flight was fine...I'm fine...Mom, stop worrying. I'm fine! I have my meds and Mr. Schue knows and Joe's helping too...Seriously, I'm fine...No, we're riding bikes. There are no cars at all here...yeah...Yes, okay, love you too...bye."

"My turn" Brittany said. She jumped up and hopped to the phone. Then she reached down her shirt and pulled out a folded up piece of paper.

"What on earth is that?" Blaine asked, one triangle-shaped eyebrow raised.

Brittany grinned at him. "My contact information. So I always have my phone numbers. I don't remember them."

"You keep it down you shirt?" Blaine asked.

"In my bra" Brittany nodded.

"There's an idea for you, Finn" Kurt said. "Writing down the numbers."

"I don't have a bra to put it in" Finn replied with an eye roll.

"I'm sorry but I can't listen to Finn talk about bras, or his lack of" Santana said. "The mind pictures are too creepy. All I see is his jiggly man boobs and no, I'm gonna stop there. I think I'm gonna vomit."

"Santana, stop being so mean" Rachel said.

Santana stayed quiet, but had a tough smirk on her face.

"Brittany, why don't you keep the paper in your pocket rather than...down there?" Blaine asked.

"Sometimes I wear a skirt and it doesn't have pockets" Brittany answered.

Blaine nodded. "Valid answer. Proceed to call home."

Brittany dialed. "Hi Dad! It's Brittany S. Pierce...Yes, I'm in Canada...yeah, the plane was fine...We went swimming and played tennis and jumped off a pier...Pierce on a pier!...Yes, Rory is fine. There are a lot of trees around and so I think he is happy...Dad, I told you, he likes green things because he may or may not be a leprechaun...Whaddyamean? That's a fact!...Okay, fine, bye. And say hi to Mom and sis...No, I don't wanna talk to her!...Bye."

"Brittany, how many times do I have to tell you that I am not a leprechaun?" Rory sighed.

Brittany stared at him. "Prove it."

Rory paused. "Prove that I am one."

"One: you are from Ireland. Two: you talk in that weird voice. Three: you wear a lot of green. Four: you often sneak up on me and I'm sure you just appear out of thin air because you are magic. Five: you granted my wishes when you first came to America. There, that's five strong proof points."

Rory sighed. "I have an accent, not a weird voice. And I have a light step, that's all. And I faked all your wishes."

"False" Brittany said. And with that, she didn't entertain the conversation any longer. Rory rolled his eyes.

Puck stood up and grabbed the phone. "Sup, Mom?...I'm fine...Mr. Schue told us to call and stuff...Yeah it's chill...Okay see you. Bye."

He handed the phone to Santana.

She dialed the phone. "Hello?...oh, hi Abuela, it's Santana. No, wait, please don't go-...Hi Mom...Yeah, I know. It's not your fault...I don't wanna hear it. Just stop... We're all fine. It's nice here...Yup, the flight was fine... Well, Coach Sylvester is being herself, but Mr. Schue and Ms. Pillsbury are good...Okay, miss you too...Like I said, it's not your fault. Just tell her I love her... Okay, love you. Bye."

"Was that your Abuela?" Brittany asked when Santana returned to her seat, looking less vicious and more deflated than when she stood up.

Santana nodded miserably.

"Wanna talk about it?" Brittany asked gently, hugging Santana.

"No."

"Okay then" Brittany said. There was nothing more she could do.

Blaine stood up. "Is it alright if I call now?"

"You don't have to ask" Quinn said. "None of us owns the phone."

Blaine blushed a bit. "Just making sure no one else was gonna use it."

"You're so polite, Blaine" Tina smiled at him.

"Thank you" Blaine replied and bowed to her.

"I swear that one time I heard Blaine thank the ATM when his money came out" Kurt laughed.

They all laughed and even Santana smiled a bit.

"Well, in my defense, when I was little, Cooper convinced me that there was a dude and his job was to stand inside the ATM and shove money through the slot. So I started saying thank you just in case there actually was. That guy needs thanks too, you know" Blaine said. He was being totally serious but he was laughing as he said it.

"You're crazy" Quinn grinned.

Blaine shrugged and picked up the phone. He dialed and hummed as it rang. "Hey Mom!...Yeah, I'm in Canada. Victoria Beach, Manitoba to be exact...It's nice. Very rugged and wild...It's a cottage, Mom. We're surrounded by trees!...All safe and accounted for...Yes, Kurt's fine. He's having fun. As am I...yes, okay...we're playing cards right now...Not me, I suck at the game. But, I did learn how to play Solitaire!...Okay well see you when I return. Love you, bye."

"Me next" Mike jumped up. "Tina, make sure no one looks at my cards."

"Can I look?" Tina laughed.

"No" Mike said.

Tina shrugged. "I already know them all anyways."

"You do?" Sugar asked.

"Five of hearts, seven of clubs..." Tina began.

"Okay thanks, Tina" Mike said loudly to drown her out.

Tina winked at him.

Mike rolled his eyes and put his ear to the phone. "Hello!...Yes, it's me. Canada is great!...Everyone is fine...We're having so much fun...Yes, I am...I brought Inheritance...So? A book is a book...Yes, Dad. Okay, I love you. Send my love to Mom too...Bye."

"Dude! How much?" Puck asked as soon as he hung up.

"What?" Mike blinked.

"How much did you bring?" Puck asked.

"How much of what?" Mike was very confused.

"Money. You said you brought your inheritance" Puck smiled. "I say we blow it on fireworks."

"Yes!" Brittany grinned.

Mike finally understood. He laughed. "No, I brought a book called Inheritance."

"A book? Why?" Sam asked.

Mike's smile faltered a bit. "My father thinks that I should be reading everyday. It's kinda his way of making sure I keep my brain active since he agreed to let me dance. And I don't mind because reading is fun. So I told him that I'm reading Inheritance."

"But you're not" Rachel pointed out.

"Nah, I've already read it so if he asks me questions I can answer" Mike said.

"Wait" Puck said slowly. "So you don't have cash?"

"No" Blaine rolled his eyes. "What's the book about?"

Mike paused. "Not dragons...that'd be weird." His smile meant it was.

"Dragons are cool" Brittany said. "Rory have you ever seen a dragon?"

He sighed. "Yes, it was having tea with a pixy over at the troll's house."

"Dragons don't drink tea. They drink gas. That's how they make fire" Brittany said.

Mike didn't know how to respond. "Joe, you haven't called home yet. Here."

Joe stood up and took the phone from him.

"Hey Dad! How's the sales going?...That's good...It's super fun. The flight was great...No, we're all fine...yes we all get along fine...tennis, swimming, playing cards...actually, no we haven't sung at at all...Say hi to Mom...Bye-bye."

"By golly he's right!" Rachel smiled. "We haven't sang this whole trip."

"No please don't start singing" Santana moaned.

"It's the perfect time" Rachel said.

"Nope" Quinn shook her head. "If you wanna sing, you can go serenade random beach-goers. Leave us alone."

Rachel pouted. "Well, I'm bored of cards."

"Have we all called home?" Finn asked, looking around at them.

"I haven't" Mercedes said and stood up. She dialed her house number and it rang. "Hey Daddy! Any kids bite you today?"

"Bite?" Blaine asked.

"Her father's a dentist" Kurt said.

"Oh" Blaine nodded.

"...Yeah, we're all having a blast!...Today we picked blueberries then made pies...It's been nice and sunny so far...Yeah...He is? Yeah, I'll talk to him!...Hey bro!...Yeah, I'm in Canada...we had real Canadian maple syrup today!...I know!...Okay. See you soon...Of course I'll have plenty of pics to show you! I've already taken like fifty...Okay...yes, bye...no, it's okay...tell them I love them...bye."

As Mercedes sat back down, Rachel looked around at them all.

"I think we've all use the phone" she announced. "And I'm done with cards, like I said before."

"Me too" Tina agreed, tossing her cards in the center of the table. Artie, Sugar, Brittany and Rachel added their cards.

"Let's play Pick Up Fifty" Finn smiled.

"Only if you clean them all up when we're done" Quinn smiled.

"On second thought, that game is lame" Finn grinned.

"It's only eight" Blaine said, glancing at the large wooden clock that hung on the mantle piece.

"Now what?" Santana asked, flopping down on the floor.

"Let's play a game" Tina said. "Like a verbal game."

"The alphabet game?" Kurt suggested. He had such a good vocabulary that he wins every time.

"No way. One time I played that with my sister and it went on for five days" Quinn said.

Tina smiled. "Nope, I got a better game idea. Trust me, you'll love this one."

* * *

**A/N**

**Hey! Now, I know I'm a week late, but please put away your pitch forks and torches. Last Friday, my dad took my ipod to get fixed because the left speaker was broken and all my stories and stuff were on there. I only got it back like an hour ago. So I am sorry. :)**

**So anyways, I know what game they'll be playing. It's fun and I think you'll enjoy it. But if you know of other games you want them to play, let me know because I'm kinda low on ideas. :S**

**P.S. sorry if this chapter is hard to read due to the phone set up. I wanted it so that you didn't know what the person on the other end is saying. I hope you weren't too confused. **


	17. Chapter 17

"Sausage" Tina said with a smirk.

"Oooh yes please!" Finn said.

"You've played before?" Tina asked.

"Wait, what?" Finn asked.

"Have you played it before?" Tina asked.

"Played what?" Finn blinked.

"Sausage. Honestly, does she need to spell it out for you?" Quinn snapped.

"It's a game?" Finn was shocked. "I thought Tina was gonna go make us some sausages."

"No, you dork" Santana said. "The game is called Sausage."

"I've never heard of it" Sam said.

"How do you play?" Joe asked.

Tina sat up a bit so she was in view of them all. "It's super fun. Okay, so what you do is we decide a word or short phrase. For example, sausage. And one person is in the middle and everyone else around him or her must ask a question to which they must respond with the word, which for this example is sausage. So they'd ask something like 'for breakfast you eat cereal and...?' and the person would say 'sausage'. The catch is that they cannot under any circumstances smile or laugh. If you do, you're out and the person switches."

"Sounds fun" Blaine smiled.

"Is there any limits or restrictions on words?" Mike asked.

"Well, let's try and keep it PG-13" Tina said. "But no."

"Do the words have to make sense? Like could 'apples' be the answer to 'what is your favourite colour?'"

"Sure" Tina grinned. "That's what makes it fun!"

"Alright! Let's play!" Artie cheered.

"I'll be in the middle first" Sam volunteered. He shuffled in the center and everyone else formed a circle around him.

"What shall his word be?" Rachel asked, adjusting her skirt.

"How about armadillo?" Puck said, stressing the 'o' on the end.

"That's so random" Kurt said.

"Thanks, bro" Puck said with a nod.

"So armadillo, then?" Sam asked, eager to get the game started.

"Okay" Finn nodded. "Rory, wanna go first?"

Rory nodded then faced Sam. "What is your favourite thing to lick?"

Sam blinked and then replied. "An armadillo."

"Quinn, you're up next" Tina instructed.

Quinn gave a small smirk as an attempt to get Sam to laugh or smile. "What's your favourite pizza topping?"

"Armadillo" Sam said, fidgeting slightly.

Artie snickered on the other side of the circle.

"Me next" Rachel smiled. She adjusted her skirt and stared Sam in the eye. "You share underwear with what?"

Sam paused for a moment, obviously trying to keep composure. Then he lost it. He smiled a bit. All of New Directions jumped right on him.

"He smiled! He smiled!" Sugar yelled, a perfectly manicure finger in Sam's face.

"Out! O-U-T out!" Puck howled.

"Nice one, Rachel!" Mercedes cheered, highfiving her.

Sam pouted and switched seats with Rachel, who was positively beaming.

"Nice try, babe" Mercedes laughed, patting Sam's knee.

"It was such a stupid question too" Sam sighed. "Armadillo underwear?"

"It's the stupid ones that are the killers" Tina smiled.

"What's Rachel's word?" Finn asked the group.

"Pajamas?" Rory suggested.

"Too lame" Santana said disapprovingly.

"Ronald McDonald" Brittany suggested.

"That creepy clown man from McDonalds?" Joe asked.

"I hate clowns" Artie said to no one in particular.

"Now that's a good word!" Santana said.

"Okay, Ronald McDonald it is" Quinn said. "Mercedes, it's your turn.

She grinned. "You mom is who?"

Rachel winkled her nose. "Ronald McDonald" she answered, clearly not impressed with the mere suggestion that it was that creepy character who birthed her.

They all laughed but Rachel remained still.

"My turn" Tina announced. "Who's hiding under your bed?"

"Ronald McDonald" Rachel replied.

"Who drove you home from school last Monday?" Mike asked with an eyebrow wiggle.

"Ronald McDonald" Rachel said.

"She's good at this" Blaine whispered to Artie.

"Don't let her know" Artie said back. "She'd probably put it on her resumé."

Puck went next. "If you could have a pillow fight with someone, who'd it be?"

"Ronald McDonald" Rachel said but giggled. She slapped a hand over her mouth.

"And she's outta there!" Finn said like a baseball umpire.

"Sorry" Rachel apologized. "The mind picture of me and Ronald having a pillow fight was too amusing."

They all giggled.

Puck switched seats with Rachel.

"Alright kiddies, what's my word?" Puck said, rubbing his hands together.

"Arrogant?" Quinn muttered.

"Okay what about Dinkleberg?" Blaine suggested.

"What language is that?" Brittany asked. "Like Dwarfish or something?"

"No, it's English" Blaine said.

"Isn't Dinkleberg the last name of that neighbor on that kid's show 'Fairly Odd Parents'?" Sam asked.

Blaine smiled. "Yes!"

"You still watch that?" Santana scoffed. She was both disgusted and amused. It was like when she and Quinn read one of those 'Believe It Or Not' books during spare a few months ago.

"No, but who can say they didn't watch it once upon a time?" Blaine asked.

"Like seven years ago" Santana said.

"See? It was a cool show" Blaine said.

"I had fish named Cosmo and Wanda when I was little" Finn said. "Of course, they died a week after a got them."

"I had a babysitter who's name was Vicky. But she was nice" Tina said.

"So what's my word?" Puck asked.

"Dinkleberg" Blaine said.

"But you gotta say it in that deep voice like Timmy Turner's dad did on the show" Sam said. "Dinkleberg" he said in a low, slow voice.

"I can't believe you guys" Santana said.

Either way, Puck nodded enthusiastically.

Finn cleared his throat. "Who's licking that wall?"

Puck kept a straight face. "Dinkleberg" he said in the comical voice.

"One the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...?" Santana asked.

"Dinkleberg" Puck replied.

Rachel and Mercedes were laughing. Then again, they were both in giggly moods and everything seemed hilarious.

"The last person you saw naked was who?" Brittany asked.

At this, Puck laughed. "D-Dinkleberg" he stuttered, his face red.

"Brittany, you're in the circle" Blaine said and the blonde girl scrambled in, switching with Puck.

"Britt's word should be momma llama" Kurt said. "That's fun to say."

Quinn smiled. "Okay. Artie, it's your turn."

Artie thought about his question. "What kind of jam is on your toast?"

"Momma llama" Brittany said.

"What's the name of the hobo who lives in your backyard?" Blaine asked.

"Momma llama" Brittany said.

"Mr. Schue's hair looks like a what?" Tina asked.

"Like a momma llama" Brittany said.

"You named your big toe what?" Joe asked.

"Momma llama" Brittany said.

"Who's your daddy?" Sugar asked.

"Momma llama" Brittany said but smiled. "Ah! Sorry. That was good, Sugar."

"Yeah, I know, I'm awesome at this game" Sugar said as the girls switches spots.

"We'll be the judge of that" Kurt said.

"Sugar's word?" Finn asked. Conversation had begun amongst them so he had to speak up.

"Fantastic" Quinn said. "But she has to say it like Coach Sylvester does. She says it like 'fan-tastic'."

Sugar grinned. "Bring it."

* * *

"Hey guys" Will said, coming into the area. The kids had played Sausage for over an hour. They had all taken a turn in the center and if it was possible, they would have laughed their pants off because the words got sillier, as did the questions. Now they were just talking. Well, debating. They were debating whether tattoos were a good idea or not.

"Hey" Artie said back to the teacher. They all stopped debating and looked at Mr. Schuester, who sat down on a chair near them.

"I don't mean to interrupt your talk, but I was wondering if you guys have any plans for tomorrow? I mean, this is your vacation too so what do you wanna do?"

"Sleep in" Finn said with a chuckle.

"I second!" Rory nodded.

"Really? You have all this fun at your fingertips and you wanna sleep?" Will asked, shocked.

"Teenagers like sleep" Finn nodded.

"Really?" Will asked again.

"Yes!" Brittany confirmed.

"Just for like another hour or so" Finn said. "Like until noon-ish."

"Noon?" Will repeated. That was so late. They wanted to sleep away the entire morning! "Wow. Well, okay, I guess if you really want to, you guys can sleep in tomorrow. But just tomorrow, okay?"

"Thanks Mr. Schue!" Mercedes smiled.

"But you don't have to, you know. If you're up and don't wanna waste away the morning, you can go out to the beach or Town if you want" Will said.

"That'll be me" Kurt said. "I'm always an early riser."

"We know" Santana said.

"Anyways, so I was thinking we go golfing tomorrow. Say one-ish?" Will said, grinning.

"I suck at golf" Joe said.

"Good. One less person to try and beat me" Puck said. "Mr. Shue, I'm in for hittin' the greens."

Will smiled and gave two thumbs up. "Great!"

"I suppose we don't really have a choice in the matter, do we?" Rachel asked.

"Nope" Blaine shook his head.

Rachel made a 'hmph' sound.

Kurt's hand shot up in the air. "Um, I have a question. Is this real golf like Tiger Woods golf or mini putting golf?"

"Real golf" Will answered.

"Remember when Tiger Woods was the biggest thing on the news?" Mercedes said.

"Um, that's off topic" Will said, standing up. "My cue to leave."

"What? You don't wanna stay and talk about celeb scandals with us?" Artie called sarcastically.

"As much as I so really want to, no way" Will laughed.

"Missing out" Artie said.

"Anyways" Rachel piped up. "Like I was saying before Mr. Schue came, I think tattoos are hideous."

"Some are cool, though" Sugar said. "Tattoo artists are sick."

"I agree. Like I can barely draw a stick figure and these people can draw like flaming roses on a person's inner thigh or something" Mercedes said.

"Actually, they do the drawing on paper first then kinda put it on like a temporary tattoo kids use and go over it with the needle so it's permanent" Joe said.

"Joe would know. He has tats" Sam said.

Rory laughed out loud.

"What's so funny?" Tina asked.

"In Ireland, tats is slang for a girl's...chest" Rory explained.

Puck snickered. "Nice." He highfived Rory.

"I'd never get a tattoo, but I think they're an artistic statement, like piercings or haircuts" Kurt said. "I'm all for artistic statements."

"That's where I disagree. You only get one body and tattoos are forever" Quinn said. "And as interesting as some tattoos are, they don't make your body look better, like a new haircut or even some plastic surgery can."

"But if that person thinks they look good than they should get them" Puck said.

"Otherwise, we'd all look the same and that'd be no fun" Sam said.

"Ew, I'd wear a bag over my face if I had to look like half of you" Sugar said.

"Oh, if we have to look like other people, can I look like Kurt? I've never seen him have a zit ever" Brittany said. "Or I'd wanna look like Mercedes because she has the nicest teeth."

"My daddy's a dentist" Mercedes said, bearing her pearly teeth.

"We get so off topic" Mike laughed. "Look, here's what I think: if you like tattoos, get them. If not, don't. Can't we all just agree to disagree?"

"I disagree with that shirt you're wearing" Santana said to Mike. He wore an orange shirt with white and black stripes. "You look like Finding Nemo."

"You know, the fish's first name wasn't 'Finding'" Brittany said in a know-it-all tone that reminded them all of Rachel.

"Like I care" Santana rolled her eyes.

"You're all so weird" Mercedes said, flopping on the ground. "Sometimes I wonder why I'm friends with you."

"Yes because you had such a large group of friends before Glee club" Kurt said.

"Look who's speaking!" Mercedes laughed at him.

"I was perfectly content by myself" Kurt pouted.

"Loner" Puck coughed.

Finn yawned.

Blaine yawned.

Tina yawned.

Rachel yawned.

"It's so contagious!" Sam said as he yawned.

Artie yawned.

They all yawned.

"Time to hit the sack, I think" Quinn said.

"If by 'sack', you mean floor" Mercedes giggled, shifting around on her sleeping bag.

"Guys" Sam said. He was staring down at Rory, who was lying on the floor with his eyes closed. "He's asleep already."

Finn threw a pillow at him.

* * *

**A/N**

**Okay Gleeks, I have a serious question. Upon recent speculation, I've noticed that my chapters have no point. They're silly blabber that really lacks plot. I do enjoy writing them because I think ND would be like that: silly and crazy amd random. So what do you think? Is this story just a bunch of long drabbles shoved together? Shall I try to put a point to the chapters or are y'all happy with this? I need to know!**

**So Sausage is a fun game if you're in a silly mood. If you're at a party and get bored, play it!**

**Any song requests? I'm kinda at a loss for good songs so share your knowledge! :D**

**See you next week! **


	18. Chapter 18

The next morning, most of the group took advantage of their day to sleep in. At 9 o'clock, when Will would have normally woken them up, he was forced to let them be.

But not all of them slept in. By nine thirty, Kurt, Tina, Artie and Rachel were up. The four of them quietly got breakfast and ate it in the dining room. For the first time, they got to sit at the table. All the other adults were up too.

"So what are you guys going to do now that you're up?" Emma asked them.

Kurt shrugged. "I dunno."

"It's too cold to go down to the beach" Tina sighed.

"We could go into Town?" Rachel suggested. "I mean, we'd have to be really quiet here and that's no fun."

"Just the four of us?" Artie asked.

"Unless someone else wakes up" Kurt said and they all looked at the lumps of sleeping people.

"Unlikely" Rachel sighed. "But we'll still have fun. You know, constantly being in such a large group like we are, makes bonding hard."

"I don't wanna bond with you" Artie gave her a funny look.

Rachel rolled her eyes and didn't respond. She doesn't like being shot down.

"Well, let's get changed and go 'not bond' anyways" Kurt said and stood up.

* * *

"Not too hot and not cold" Tina said as she swung slowly on the swing.

"Well, it'll warm up as the sun rises" Kurt said.

"I hope so" Artie said, looking up at the puffy clouds that were moving up in the sky.

"Let's go to the store. I want candy" Tina smiled and hopped off the swing.

"At ten-thirty in the morning?" Kurt sighed. "That's so not healthy."

"Don't ruin my fun" Tina stuck her tongue out at him. "Come on, I'll buy you some of those little marshmallow bananas."

Kurt smiled. "You know my weakness!"

The four of them went across the park to the building. Tina loaded a small plastic bag with candy, paid and they left.

They walked over to a large, wooden gazebo in the center of the field. It even had a wheelchair ramp, which Artie was thrilled by. Blue chairs were attached on it so they sat down.

"Tina, can I have one of those whale shaped things?" Rachel asked in a sweet voice.

Tina held up the blue candy. "Okay but you have to answer a question."

Rachel nodded and received her candy.

"Out of everyone in New Directions, who do you hate the most?" Tina asked.

Rachel gasped. "No one! I love everyone!"

Tina laughed. "Okay I know that's the nice answer we all wanna hear, but seriously. Tell us who you dislike the most."

"We won't tell" Kurt promised. He was always a sucker for gossip. It was like a verbal drug.

Rachel sighed. They'd pester her until she answered. "Okay but this stays between us."

They nodded eagerly.

"Out of everyone, it'd have to be Santana" Rachel said.

Tina nodded. "Makes sense."

"Some days she's nice and I know that sometimes her insults are a defence mechanism, but most of the time she's just straight up mean. To me, to Finn, to everyone" Rachel said.

"Except Brittany" Artie pointed out.

"Naturally" Kurt said.

"I think we all could agree that we dislike Santana the most" Tina said. "But aside from her, who do you dislike the most?"

"I already answered your dumb question; no more" Rachel said.

Tina pulled out a gummy worm. "I'll give you a gummy worm!"

Rachel snatched it from her hand. "Fine. Um, I'd have to say Puck. He's always got an attitude and thinks he's all that."

"I don't mind Puck" Artie said. "He's like a pitbull. They look all tough but then he has a big heart."

"Well, he should show it more" Rachel frowned. "But if you like Puck, who do you dislike the most?"

Artie thought about it. "Rory. He thinks that just because he's got that accent that girls love him. Then he plays dumb. Like do they not have TVs in Ireland?"

"Oh, you're just upset that he's still dating Sugar" Kurt said. "You've held this grudge since Valentines Day?"

Artie ignored the question. "Anyways, he'll be gone in a few weeks."

"I liked his accent. And Rory was sweet" Tina said.

"No. It's cheesy" Artie persisted. "And you're a girl so no wonder you fall for stuff like that."

Tina laughed. "Okay, Kurt, who do you dislike the most aside from Santana?"

"I don't even hate Santana that much" Kurt said. "She's always been relatively nice to me. She helped protect me when I was bullied-"

"Oh yeah, The Bully Whips" Rachel said.

"And she helped us get Sebastian to admit what he put in Blaine's blinding slushie" Kurt continued.

"So Santana likes fellow gays" Artie sighed.

"Okay but who do you dislike?" Rachel asked Kurt.

"Quinn" Kurt answered. "I disliked her since she joined Glee just to keep an eye on Finn. She's selfish and mean and thinks that she's had such a hard life because she got preggers and went crazy one summer."

"But she's changed" Tina said. "She's actually nice."

Kurt shrugged. "I'll admit that she's not as bad as I originally presumed. And she has changed a lot for good. But sometimes it's like she still thinks she's either better than us all or always hard done by. Don't get me wrong, I love her like I love everyone in the group, but sometimes she just bugs me."

"Understandable" Rachel nodded.

"What about you, Tina? Who do you dislike?" Artie asked. "You're always so quiet and innocent; it'd be interesting to see who you dislike."

Tina giggled. "No offence Rachel, but I'm gonna say Finn."

Rachel gasped. "What? My Finn?"

Tina held up her hands. "Hear me out. He's always saying he's a leader and sometimes he does have great ideas, but some days it's like the only thing he cares about is you and himself. Plus, whenever he gets mad or upset, he just leaves. Like he can just run out like a victim and we all have to feel bad for him. I don't hate him, and he's never personally affected me, but out of everyone, he's have to be who irks me the most."

Rachel frowned. "I think that's unfair. He tries really hard to be the co-captain. It's not easy."

"And I don't doubt that" Tina agreed. "Don't feel bad or take offence. I do really love you both and there's no disputing the fact that Finn has done a lot for us."

Rachel sighed. "Fine, you're entitled to your opinion."

"Let's walk down to the pier" Kurt said, breaking the awkward silence.

"Sure" Tina smiled and stood up.

* * *

Not all of the sleepers stayed asleep. After an extra hour of shut eye, some of them started to get up. By eleven, Quinn, Puck, Blaine, Brittany, Rory and Mercedes were awake.

They had decided over breakfast that there was no point going anywhere and there was no point trying to find Rachel, Kurt, Tina and Artie who had gone somewhere.

So after breakfast, Blaine, Rory and Mercedes got to talking about some TV show, Brittany had gone to get changed and Quinn and Puck were a still eating.

"So..." Quinn said awkwardly, hoping Brittany or someone would come back.

"Are you dating Joe?" Puck boldly asked.

Quinn looked at him. He was staring at her, waiting for an answer.

"Well, I wouldn't say dating per se, but I think we're on our way there" Quinn said quietly.

"Oh."

"Why?" Quinn asked.

"Just wondering" Puck shrugged. Then he paused. And stared at her. "What about us?"

"Us?" Quinn asked.

Again Puck shrugged. "Well, you kissed me. And said you loved me."

"And all of the sudden that means something to you?" Quinn asked with a scoff.

"Well, you do" Puck said quietly.

Quinn sighed. "Puck, listen. You will always have a special place in my heart. Not just because you're Beth's father, but because you were my first. And you're a nice guy. I kissed you because you needed motivation for that exam. I believed in you when even you didn't. But you're joking if you think we can work. Especially since we're going in different directions come next year. I'll be at Yale and you'll be cleaning pools in L.A. There's no way that we'll work."

"But you can work with Joe?" Puck retorted.

Quinn shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not. We'll cross that bridge when we get there. Either way, it doesn't involve you."

"So there's no hope for us?" Puck asked. "Because I care about you."

"You're too much of a player to commit yourself to one person. Especially if that person is across the country at school" Quinn pointed out.

Puck smiled. "True. And I'm not a player; I'm a Ladies Man."

Quinn laughed. "But don't worry. We'll always be friends."

"Good."

"Yeah, and I'll be needing someone to clean my pool when I move into a big fancy house with a large pool" Quinn said.

"Deal" Puck nodded and highfived her.

* * *

"Well, look who's back!" Mercedes said as Tina, Rachel, Artie and Kurt came strolling in the yard.

The four of them came into the cottage.

"Hello!" Rachel chirped happily.

"Where did you guys go?" Blaine asked, hugging Kurt.

"Town" Tina grinned. "It was fun."

"Who's still asleep?" Artie asked, looking at the sleeping bags that were anything but neat.

"No one" Mike answered. "Finn was last to wake up and he's just getting changed now."

"And where's Mr. Schue and Ms. Pillsbury and Coach Sylvester?" Rachel asked.

"Coach Sylvester is in the bunk house and Mr. Schue and Ms. Pillsbury rode out to the garbage drop off. They'll be back any minute" Mercedes said.

Sue came strolling into the cottage from the bunk house. "Hello."

"Speak of the devil" Rory muttered.

"Hey Coach Sylvester" Sam said. "Are you coming golfing with us?"

"Indeed. I happen to be a great golfer" Sue replied. "Which one of you will be my caddy?"

"I'm pretty sure you won't need a caddy" Finn said.

"Yes I do!"

"Um, well, we'll decide who can do it later" Finn mumbled.

"Well, hows about we break open some cans and make some soup?" Mercedes said. "I am hungry."

"Same" several of them nodded.

* * *

**A/N **

**Hay y'all. So I seriosuly took your thoughts into consideration as far of the seriousness of this story. So I have some ideas for some real plot, and yes, they wil involve OC's. :) So thanks for all who gave feedback. **

**So in this chapter there is some Quick parts. A while ago, a guest asked for Puck and Quinn to get back together. I'm trying to keep this story as canon for the time it's set, so sadly, no can do. But hopefully, you like this. :P**

**So lately I've been looking for some good songs for ND to sing. So if you have a song that would work with them (happy, appropriate group song) tell me!**

**;) TTYL**


	19. Chapter 19

"Ow. Ow. Ow."

"It's your own fault. And stop touching it"

"It was an accident! I forgot! Ow" Finn winced.

"I reminded you" Rachel told him. "Before we left, I reminded you."

"Woah, Finn, that looks bad" Mercedes said, looking at Finn's arm, which was burnt red.

"I know" Finn pouted. Mercedes poked his arm gently and her finger left a white mark on his red skin.

Finn sat down on the couch and sighed.

"What a riveting game of golf!" Sam grinned as he plopped down on the couch.

"Of course you'd think so" Puck said. "How'd you get so good?"

Sam shrugged. "Golf is cheap. Dad used to take us out to play on the weekends for some cheap, fresh-air filled entertainment."

"Cute. And did you guys all store extra golf balls in your mouth?" Santana smirked.

Sam rolled his eyes as Brittany and several others snickered.

They all sat down on the chairs and floor, happy to take a breath after peddling on their bikes for a bit.

"Here" Quinn said, coming from the room where the suitcases were stored. She handed Finn a small bottle of some thick liquid.

"What is it?" Finn stared at the bottle. "Aloe?" He pronounced it 'alowee'.

"It's pronounced 'ah-low'" Rachel said.

"It's really good for burns and skin stuff" Quinn explained as she sat down on the other side of him.

Finn smiled. "Sweet, thanks!"

Santana limped in and sat on the floor. She had accidentally hit her own foot with the golf club as she tried to hit the ball.

"How's your foot?" Kurt asked her kindly.

"Hurts like a you-know-what" she growled.

Kurt got her an icepack.

* * *

They found a decent movie on the TV and watched that for the rest of the afternoon until dinner. Although halfway through the movie, a lot of the teens got bored of it and began yapping so the silence ended.

Dinner consisted of rice and chicken nuggets. But that was a mistake on the adults' part. The teens, who ate on the floor like always, made a huge mess and little white rice grains could be found all over the place. It didn't help that the boys had gotten little cups of dipping sauce and tried to drop their chicken nuggets into them from ridiculous heights as an imitation of the McDonalds commercial. Most of them missed and their chicken nuggets went bouncing on the ground, leaving trails of crumbs before being picked up and shoved into a mouth, claiming it had only been three seconds and is therefore okay to eat.

So by the time dinner was over, Will had a crease in his forehead from frowning and Emma refused to look up at the mess. But the kids were all red-faced from laughing.

"Out! Yup, out you go" Will said. "Come back in a few hours. Stay together and stay clean!" He shooed them out of the cottage as Emma pulled out the large heavy-duty vacuum cleaner from the closet.

* * *

So they walked to Town. They all had brought some change so they went to the small store and bought candy. Then they went back to the park and ate it.

"Now what?" Puck asked, lying on the playground equipment. He had pretty much dumped his entire bag of candy in his mouth at once while everyone else ate one at a time and savoured every piece.

Kurt and Rachel were making a chain using empty candy bags.

"Can we go back to the cottage yet?" Quinn asked. She shivered and rubbed her arms. "I'm cold."

"It's been forty five minutes" Mike said. "Mr. Schue said a few hours."

Joe moved to sit next to Quinn and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned into his embrace with a smile.

"Let's play something" Mercedes said. "Something active. Golf didn't burn many calories."

"Let's sleep" Finn said, yawning.

"Let's play Hide And Seek" Blaine suggested.

Santana groaned. "How old are we? Five? I haven't played Hide And Seek since then. Because it's a childish game."

"What you call childish we call timeless" Tina said. She turned to Blaine. "I think that's a great idea."

Blaine smiled.

"Yeah, it'd be fun. We have a bunch of space to use" Rory said.

"Good idea, Blaine" Quinn said.

"Here Blaine, because you thought of the idea, you can have this elegant necklace" Rachel said, handing Blaine the plastic bag necklace that she and Kurt made. Really, it was quite hideous and looked like trash.

"Cool, thanks!" Blaine smiled and put it around his neck. "If Kurt made it, it must be the latest of fashion trends."

"For sure" Kurt said sarcastically. "Alexander McQueen for sure."

"Who's gonna count first?" Finn asked, suddenly eager to play and run around.

"I will" Joe volunteered.

"The boundaries are anywhere in the park and stores. No going anywhere we haven't been before and no going back out of the park towards the cottage" Mike said.

"Sounds fair" Sam stood up and stretched.

"I don't wanna play" Santana said. "My foot hurts a bit still anyways."

"I don't wanna play either" Artie said. "But if you guys can get me up to the top of the playground, I'd love to watch."

So the boys got Artie up top and Joe closed his eyes.

"One...two...three...four...five..." Joe began counting.

Artie watched them all scatter off. Brittany, Kurt and Rory ran towards Moonlight Inn, Finn and Blaine ran towards the tennis courts, Rachel, Quinn and Mercedes ran towards the store.

"...Seventy six, seventy seven, seventy eight, seventy nine, eighty..." Joe counted from below where Artie and Santana sat.

He finally reached one hundred and opened his eyes.

"Okay where did they go?" Joe smiled and called up to Artie and Santana, who he knew had seen them all hide.

"Isn't cheating a sin?" Santana replied. Artie laughed, but Joe didn't reply.

He wandered off towards the tennis courts because they were closest. There were lots of people there but Joe kept his eyes peeled for the familiar faces. He walked along the little path, searching. He got to the benches near the courts and climbed up on them to get a higher view. When he didn't see anyone, he hopped down and walked on. He passed a little desk with a roof thing. It was square and wooden and had a space for person to sit in the middle. It was like an outdoor cubical for the person who schedules tennis games. As Joe walked by, he peered down, over the little counter thing. And lo and behold!

"Found you!" Joe announced.

Blaine and Finn sighed and stood up.

"How? Did you see Finn's head?" Blaine asked.

"No" Joe shrugged. "I was in the area and peeked in. Are you even allowed to go in this thing?"

"I don't see a sign that says not to" Finn laughed.

"But maybe we should go anyways" Blaine said and he and Finn went back to the park. Joe continued his search.

He found Sam behind a tree, Puck under a bench, Tina under some bleachers and Mike in the playground tunnel. Rachel and Quinn tried to hide in the store's two isles and Mercedes tried to hide near a crowd outside the store but Joe found them all. He found Brittany hiding behind the jukebox in Moonlight Inn and Rory and Kurt under a booth's table. Sugar was hidden behind the library.

Round one was over.

* * *

"It's been like two hours. Let's go back to the cottage" Rachel said, breathing heavy from her dash across the playground. It was getting dark and the park was slowly emptying.

"Yeah" Sam nodded. He was the most recent Seeker and finding them had either been super easy or super hard.

They had all had fun playing Hide And Seek and only started to run out of hiding spots towards the end. Even Santana and Artie, who didn't play but watched excitedly, talked and had a totally civilized conversation. They talked about school, Brittany, the cottage, family. It was nice, but weird for Artie, who never really talked to her like that.

"So we're leaving now?" Puck asked, jumping down into the sand.

Finn nodded and the group started to move towards the dirt road that led back to the cottage.

Then Tina stopped in her stride. She swore and looked like she was going to cry.

"What's wrong?" Kurt asked.

"Where's Mike?" Tina asked. "Sam never found Mike."

Sure enough, Mike wasn't present.

"Did you see where he hid?" Quinn asked Artie and Santana

"No...We were too busy watching Brittany running in circles before she decided to hide behind a tree" Artie said.

"We gotta find him" Tina said, panic in her voice.

"Relax" Mercedes said. "We will."

They split up and searched.

"Mike! Mike! Miiiiike!" they all called as they looked.

Finally he was found. Asleep in a tree.

"Mike!" Finn called, staring up at him. Mike awoke with a start and almost fell out of the tree.

"We found him!" Kurt called to the others, who were looking by the tennis courts.

Mike jumped down from the tree, landing on his feet like a nimble cat.

Tina hugged him tightly. "We were so worried."

"She was worried" Santana clarified.

Kurt stared up the tree branch Mike had been on. "How on earth did you get up there?"

Mike smiled a bit. "I climbed up."

"Are you part squirrel?" Kurt replied.

"No. I'm just a good climber" Mike said.

"We almost left without you" Tina cried, un-shed tears in her eyes.

"You're good at this game" Sam said. "I swear I walked by this tree like ten times."

Mike grinned. "But you never looked up."

"Okay now let's go. Unless we're missing someone else?" Mercedes said.

"I think I'm lost" Brittany smiled.

"Well your brain sure is" Quinn muttered. "Yes, all of us are present and accounted for."

Rachel did a quick head count just to be sure. "Yup."

So they left Town.

* * *

"We're back!" Puck sang as they arrived at the cottage.

Emma sighed and Will faked a smile.

"Hey! Did you have fun?" he asked.

Mercedes nodded. "Yeah. Then we almost lost Mike in a tree."

"What?"

"I fell asleep" Mike admitted.

"In a tree?" Will was confused.

Mike nodded.

Will sighed. "Okay. I actually don't wanna know."

"What was that I heard about Boy Asian falling out of a tree?" Sue asked, strolling into the room.

"Almost" Mike smiled at her.

"Darn" Sue said. "Next try and actually fall, okay?"

Mike laughed awkwardly. How does one respond to that?

The teens moved into the newly clean room and collapsed on the floor. They chatted for a while as they were too tired to run around but not enough to sleep. The only time they got up as to grab a few bags of chips and some drinks.

"Rachel, you're quiet" Sam commented after a while. Rachel had been silently eating chips and looking around at them.

Rachel smiled. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize" Artie said. "It was a welcomed break."

Rachel glared at him. "I was just thinking what it'd be like if we were only two people."

"What?" several of them asked

"Like if if all the girls were just one person and all the boys were one person. And they had all the qualities of all the people. Do you get it?"

"But would we know we were made up of many people?" Blaine asked.

"No. That'd be weird" Rachel said. "But what would it be like if the two people dated?"

"So I have to date Rope Head?" Santana scoffed and Joe frowned.

"In a way" Rachel said.

"I think we'd get along great" Mercedes said. "I mean, we all get along just fine."

Tina nodded. "We'd be the perfect two."

Smiles broke out over their faces.

And before they knew it, they all broke out into song.

'_You can be the peanut butter to my jelly_

_You can be the butterflies I feel in my belly_

_You can be the captain and I can be your first mate_

_You can be the chills that I feel on our first date_

_You can be the hero and I can be your side kick_

_You can be the tear that I'll_

_cry if we ever split_

_You can be the rain from the cloud when it's stormin'_

_Or you can be the sun when it shines in the mornin'_

_Don't know if I could ever be_

_Without you cause boy you complete me_

_And in time I know that we'll both see_

_That we're all we need_

_Cause you're the apple to my pie_

_You're the straw to my berry_

_You're the smoke to my high_

_And you're the one I wanna marry_

_Cause your the one for me_

_And I'm the one for you_

_You take the both of us_

_And we're the perfect two_

_We're the perfect two_

_We're the perfect two_

_Baby me and you_

_We're the perfect two_

_You can be the prince and I can be your princess_

_You can be the sweet tooth I can be the dentist_

_You can be the shoes and I can be the laces_

_You can be the heart that I spill on the pages_

_You can be the vodka and I can be the chaser_

_You can be the pencil and I can be the paper_

_You can be as cold as the winter weather_

_But I don't care as long as we're together_

_Don't know if I could ever be_

_Without you cause boy you complete me_

_And in time I know that we'll both see_

_That we're all we need_

_Cause you're the apple to my pie_

_You're the straw to my berry_

_You're the smoke to my high_

_And you're the one I wanna marry_

_Cause your the one for me _

_And I'm the one for you_

_You take the both of us_

_And we're the perfect two_

_We're the perfect two_

_We're the perfect two_

_Baby me and you_

_We're the perfect two_

_You know that I'll never doubt ya_

_And you know that I think about ya_

_And you know I can't live without ya_

_I love the way that you smile_

_And maybe in just a while_

_I can see me walk down the aisle_

_Cause you're the apple to my pie_

_You're the straw to my berry_

_You're the smoke to my high_

_And you're the one I wanna marry_

_Cause your the one for me_

_And I'm the one for you_

_You take the both of us_

_And we're the perfect two_

_We're the perfect two_

_We're the perfect two_

_Baby me and you_

_We're the perfect two_'

Just as the fun a cappella song ended and the laughter died down, they all heard the little bell outside jangle furiously. They all looked toward the screen door.

Outside, on the deck, was a girl.

And she did not look too happy.

* * *

**A/N**

**Hey peeps! Okay so here we have hopefully a bit more plot and a cliffhanger of sorts. Next chapter, you'll meet the original character(s).**

**:D The song ND sings here is 'Perfect Two' by Auburn. It was suggested by azebra117. If any of y'all have songs, lemmie hear them because if ND does anything, it's sing! haha.**

**Love you all! And see you next time...which means prolly next week. **


	20. Chapter 20

"Who she be?" Santana asked, looking at the girl outside.

"Someone let her in" Artie said.

"She could be dangerous" Quinn said, warily looking at the girl. She was about their age and height and had chin length brown hair that was crinkled as if it was in a braid and bangs. But she looked as if she was getting madder each second they didn't open the door.

But before they could do anything, Will got up and opened the door.

"Hello" he said.

The girl smiled a bit. "Hi, I'm Meredith. Um, are you in charge here?"

Will nodded. "Yes."

"I figured you weren't a father to all of them" she said.

"I'm not a father to any of them" Will laughed. "I'm their teacher. Will Shuester." He extended his hand to her and she shook it firmly.

"Listen, these walls are thin and my brother is trying to sleep and your students' singing will wake him up. Is it possible that you can tell them to stop?" Meredith said.

Will nodded. "Um, yeah, sure, no problem. Uh, where are you from?"

"Oh, I'm next door" Meredith pointed in the direction of her cottage.

"Cool" Will smiled. "Well, we'll be sure to keep it down. Sorry about that."

"Thanks" Meredith said with a stout nod. She shoved her hands back in her front sweater pocket and glanced at the members of New Directions who were silently watching her. "Bye" she said and walked out of the cottage.

They watched her walk away in silence. When she left the property, Will awkwardly clapped his hands once.

"Well, you heard her. Keep it down, okay?"

They nodded and lowered their voices.

"We weren't that loud" Sam said.

"We were great!" Rachel frowned. "How dare she."

"Who needs to sleep at ten? It's practically still light out" Santana said.

"Oh calm down" Mercedes said. "She probably has a little brother who's like four. Ten o'clock for a four year old is like an all-nighter for a teenager."

When they didn't have anything to say on the matter, their conversation went back to random chit-chat.

Until the next day...

* * *

"Look, isn't that her?" Tina asked, pointing across the park to a girl who was walking to the library.

"Margret or whatever her name was from last night?" Joe asked.

"Meredith" Kurt corrected. "And yeah, I think it is."

"Should we talk to her?" Tina asked.

"And say what?" Puck asked. "She's not even that hot."

"We should apologize" Tina said.

"I agree but it'd be weird if we all followed her" Blaine said.

"We'll catch her on the way back" Quinn said, slowly swinging on the swing.

* * *

Sure enough, Meredith walked back up the grassy slope with two books in hand. As she passed the park where New Directions stood, she made eye contact with several of them. Then she awkwardly looked away.

"Hey, Meredith!" Rachel smiled at her.

Meredith paused and turned to face Rachel and the others.

"Hi" she mumbled weakly.

"We just wanted to say how sorry we are for being loud last night. We were inconsiderate and we didn't realize how much of a bother our singing was" Rachel said and the others nodded.

"No you guys are good singers. It's just that it's been hard and stuff so I was a bit on edge" Meredith said.

"What do you mean?" Artie asked.

Meredith blinked. "Never mind. Anyways, I have to go. Nice meeting you."

"You haven't met us really" Quinn smiled. "I'm Quinn."

"I'm Mercedes. That's Joe, Tina, Rachel, Kurt, Sam, Rory, Finn, Puck, Artie, Brittany, Blaine, Santana, Sugar and Mike" Mercedes said, pointing them all out.

Meredith smiled. "I'll never remember all that so I apologize now."

They all laughed.

"See you around then" Blaine said. "I think we're going to the beach this afternoon. You should join us."

Meredith smiled. "Maybe. We'll see." She waved and walked off, towards the dirt road leading back to the cottage.

"She seems nice" Brittany said.

"I guess" Santana said. "If you ask me, she looks like one of those quiet girls who sit around in their rooms all day and reads books and cries over fictional characters."

Kurt laughed. "Seems like you know all about that, Santana."

Santana glared at him. "That's not even remotely true."

Kurt shrugged with an evil grin.

They decided to hang around Town until lunch. Some of them even took a trip down to the library. It was a quiet, small place that was loaded with books.

"Hey Rachel" Blaine said as he cornered her in the library. He kept how voice low but Rachel suspected it wasn't because they were in a library.

"Yes, Blaine Warbler?" she asked, also keeping her voice low.

"Remember the other day when we were saying how Joe, Rory and Sugar have yet to be slushied?" Blaine began, his hazel eyes twinkling.

Rachel grinned. "Now would be the perfect time!"

He nodded.

"If you can keep them distracted, Kurt and I can go buy three slushies and sneak up behind them" Blaine said.

"And if they ask where you and Kurt are?" Rachel said.

"Tell them that Kurt was gonna check out a book so I stayed with him" Blaine smiled. "This plan won't fail."

Rachel nodded and highfived Blaine.

"See you soon" Blaine said. He turned, found Kurt, and the two of them hurried off, trying to say behind trees as they dashed to the store.

"Blaine! Where are we going? I was reading something, you know!" Kurt whined as Blaine pulled him along.

"I need your help. Don't worry, you'll like it. Hurry though. We haven't got much time!"

"Blaine, is this like that day last summer where you acted like a spy for the whole day? Because my head was spinning by noon."

"No, no, just come on!" Blaine smiled. They ran up the three steps to the store's entrance. When inside, Blaine went straight to work. He stared filling slushie cups.

"What? We raced over here to get these demonic beverages?" Kurt asked in disbelief.

"No. Well, yes, but not for what you think" Blaine said. He handed an empty cup to Kurt. "Here, fill."

Kurt took the cup and caught a glimpse of Blaine's bright eyes. And he made a connection.

He smiled. "Wait, who are we throwing these at?"

"Joe, Rory and Sugar" Blaine said. "They have yet to feel the ice cold wrath of a slushie."

Kurt laughed. "Brilliant!"

"Rachel's in on the plan too. But we have to hurry" Blaine explained.

They filled up the last cup, paid and hurried outside.

"Follow me" Blaine said. "All that spy practice last summer has led to this moment. Don't let us down."

Kurt snickered.

"Where's Gay and Gayer?" Santana asked from the top of the monkey bars where she sat, looking down on everyone. Rachel thought she looked like a vulture, spying for food.

"Library" Rachel said and hurried over to Finn and Puck, who were playing Rock Paper Scissors Slap.

"Hey you two" Rachel said.

"Sup?" Puck said as they played on.

"I need your help; both of you."

"What for?" Finn asked, slapping Puck's wrist, which was really red.

Rachel quickly explained the plan in a hushed voice. "Your job is to make sure they don't run away."

Finn and Puck grinned and agreed.

"Can I tell Sam?" Finn asked. "We may need three people."

"Don't let Joe, Rory or Sugar hear" Rachel warned. "I'm going to let Mercedes, Tina and Mike in on the plan. But breath a word to anyone else and I'll hurt you."

Puck growled. "You're hot when you're like this."

Finn slapped him but it wasn't part of the game.

Kurt and Blaine dashed the long way around to the park. They had to go carefully, for they had three full cups, but quickly too. Tina was watching for them from atop the playground and when she saw them, she coughed four times; a secret signal. Rachel heard and winked to Finn. Finn nodded to Puck.

"Yo, Joe! Come here, man" Puck said.

"Sugar, Rory! Check out what Puck can do! It's so sick!" Finn said, pushing them to where Puck and Joe were.

"This is cool" Puck said. "Now, you three, line up here and close your eyes."

The three of them did.

"Now don't open your eyes until I say" Puck said. Blaine and Kurt hurried up and handed one cup to Rachel, who was grinning. By now everyone else had seen them and Sam was beckoning to them all to keep quiet. They all did but Quinn didn't look thrilled.

Kurt, Blaine and Rachel stood in front of Joe, Rory and Sugar, ready to toss.

"Okay, open!" Puck said.

The three of them opened their eyes for a second before registering what was in front of them and then shutting their eyes as the ice-cold and wet drink splashed in their face and down their shirts. Joe gasped, Rory yelped and Sugar full out screamed.

Everyone else was laughing so hard. Mercedes had her camera out and snapped several pictures.

"What the heck?" Rory gasped, wiping red ice from his face.

"Ew! This is so gross!" Sugar cried. "It's down my bra!"

Joe shivered and tried to shake it all off. "That was not nice."

"You said you've never been slushied" Blaine said.

"Everyone else has. It's practically tradition" Rachel said.

"Even Finn?" Rory asked.

Finn nodded. "Everyone."

"Ugh, now I'm sticky!" Sugar screeched.

They laughed.

"I guess you'll have to shower at the cottage" Santana smirked.

Sugar glared at them.

Quinn was helping Joe get chunks of ice out of his dreads.

"Sorry" Quinn mumbled to him. "I didn't know they'd do that."

Joe smiled. "No worries. I'm okay. Besides, it was hot so a good cooling down like that was fine."

"Getting slushied sucks" Quinn sympathized. "Been there, done that."

"But buy your friends?" Joe asked. "I'm not mad at them."

"I wish" Quinn chuckled.

Joe didn't reply.

"My hair! My hair is so gross!" Sugar wailed. She, out of the three, was taking it the worst.

"Honey, it was gross before the slushie" Santana joked, making Sugar more mad.

"My shirt was expensive. And now cheap dye is on it!"

They eventually ignored her.

* * *

"Woah, what happened to you?" Will asked as they returned to the cottage and he saw Sugar, Joe and Rory.

"They were...initiated" Finn said. "That's the right word, right?"

Rachel nodded.

Sugar went up to Will, still mad. "I have slushie in places slushie should never be."

"TMI" Brittany called loudly, kicking off her flip-flops.

"So I'm gonna shower" Rory said.

"Then lunch" Mike said.

"Then beach!" Mercedes shouted.

* * *

**A/N**

**So now you've met Meredith, my original character. You'll be seeing more of her in the next chapter and you'll learn more about her. :) and don't worry, she'll be nice.**

**Thanks to all who read, commented, and favourited this. I lerv you all.**


	21. Chapter 21

They all ran to the beach after lunch. It was a gorgeous day and they meant to make the most of it because Mr. Schue had informed them that it will be a bit cloudy tomorrow.

They all dropped their towels and bags on the sand and ran in the water. But after being in the water for half an hour and deciding that it was cold, they got out and were all sitting on the sand, making a large pile.

"Hey" they heard a voice behind them.

They turned around to see Meredith. She wore a bathing suit but she wore a large grey sweater over it. Standing next to her was a young boy. He must have been five years younger than Meredith and he refused eye contact. He had shaggy brown hair and was thin.

"Can we join you?" Meredith asked, with a small smile.

"Sure!" Mercedes said.

Meredith and the boy walked over.

"You'll have to forgive me, I don't remember your names" Meredith said.

Finn recited them all for her.

"Who's the dude?" Puck asked, referring to the boy, who was sitting down next to Meredith and drawing swirls in the sand. He still looked down.

"This is my brother, Andrew " Meredith said. "But he goes by Andy."

"Hey Andy" Tina said. Andy looked up but didn't reply. In fact, he looked a bit scared.

"Say hi" Meredith told him and he mumbled a quiet greeting. "Sorry" she told the group.

"No worries" Blaine smiled.

"So um, you're all students?" Meredith asked.

"Yeah" Quinn nodded.

"And so this is like a field trip? Or like a nature study?" Meredith asked.

"No, just a vacation" Sam said.

"Why here?" Meredith laughed. "This place is not really a teen hotspot."

"It's fun, not to expensive, and really, as long as we're together, it doesn't really matter where we are" Tina said.

"Well, it matters to me. This is about as low as I've gone" Sugar said.

"So you're all friends?" Meredith asked, looking at them all.

"Of course" Mercedes said as if it was obvious.

"You doubt?" Kurt asked.

Meredith shrugged. "No, it's just that if you're all students, I assume you're all in the same class. Maybe you're all different, but I dislike about eighty percent of my classmates."

"Well, technically we're all in a club. A glee club. You know, singing and stuff. And we've learned to overcome our differences and be friends" Tina said. "Although there are days where we want to punch each other out."

Meredith laughed. "Cool."

"So how old are you?" Tina asked. "You look around our age."

"I'm seventeen" Meredith answered. "And Andy is thirteen."

Andy looked up slightly at the sound of his name.

"Half of us are seventeen" Finn said. "And the other half are eighteen."

"Neat" Meredith nodded.

Suddenly, Andy moved. He tugged on Meredith's sleeve a bit.

"Mere, I'm getting my book, okay?" he said quietly.

Meredith nodded. "Then come back here, okay?"

Andy got up and scampered across the sand to the wooden stairs.

"Your brother is quiet" Rachel commented.

Meredith sighed and watched him climb the stairs two at a time. "He's quiet around people he doesn't know. At home, he's louder. Still reserved, but louder."

"That's awful" Mike said.

Meredith nodded. "Mom and I try to help him break out of his shell, but I guess we all know that it'll take a lot in his situation."

"His situation?" Sam questioned.

Meredith looked over her shoulder incase Andy was coming back. When he wasn't, she spoke. "We've been through a lot. It's been hard on him and since then, he's had trouble with people."

They all stared at her, hoping she'd continue, but not pressuring her.

"You see, our father cheated on our mom when I was eight. Andy was four and devasted. Two years later, my mom got re-married to Rod. Rod was great and Andy and I loved him. But two years ago, he passed away in a car accident. The worst part is, Andy was in the car with him."

"That's terrible, oh my gosh!" Rachel gasped.

Tina was crying.

"Yeah, it's been hard. Andy was never the same" Meredith sighed.

Brittany went over and hugged Meredith. "Don't be sad" she told her.

Meredith shook her head. "I'm used to it now. Andy and I are fine. I can handle it."

"What about your mother?" Artie asked.

"Mom's fine. It's been hard on her. Since she's a single mom, she works hard to support us. She has a job that is a bit tiring. She's always busy on her laptop. She's told me many times that she wishes she could quit, but she'd never be able to get another job" Meredith said. "But I know that every time that darn laptop keeps her from hanging with us, it's so we can have a better future and she still loves us."

"You're so brave" Joe said. "Bless you!"

Meredith smiled. "Thanks. I just-" She stopped suddenly as Andy came back, with a thick book in his hand. He sat down in the sand, crossed legged and opened the book.

"What book are you reading?" Blaine asked Andy.

Andy looked up a bit at Blaine, who was smiling at him. Andy showed him the cover of the book. It was the second book in the Lord Of The Rings series.

"Neat! I love that book! Good choice!" Blaine gave him a thumbs up.

Andy gave him a small hint of a smile and went back to reading his book.

"Have you ever read that book?" Kurt whispered to Blaine.

"Nope" Blaine whispered back. But he smiled a bit so who cares?"

"So, who wants to play some football?" Puck asked, spinning a football he had brought.

"Do you like sports?" Mercedes asked Meredith. "Wanna play?"

"Sure, but I'm an awful player" Meredith said.

"We are all" Quinn said.

"I'm not even sure I understand how to play football" Rory said. "And Finn has explained it to me four times."

"Andy, you want to play football with us?" Meredith asked him.

Andy shook his head.

* * *

Their football game was fun and wild and sandy. They playfully tackled each other to the sand so much that they were covered in sand by the time the game ended. Meredith fit right in with the group. As much as she wan't screaming spanish insults like Santana, she was quite witty and had the group laughing.

"It's almost four" Mike said, looking at his water-proof watch.

"Let's go in the water and get this sand off" Rachel said, wadding into the cold water.

"I wonder what's for dinner" Finn said.

"Hey, Meredith, what're you two doing for dinner?" Kurt asked.

Meredith shrugged. "I'm probably gonna make some spaghetti. Why?"

"Do you and Andy want to come over to our place for dinner?" Tina piped in.

"Really?" Meredith asked.

"Sure. Mr. Schue won't mind" Kurt said.

"Well, if it's no trouble, that'd be sweet" Meredith smiled.

"Is it okay with your mom?" Tina asked.

"Mom's in Winnipeg today at a meeting. She won't be home until later."

"Oh, okay. Well yeah, go get changed and come on over" Kurt said. "I can't promise the food will be better than spaghetti, but at least you won't dine alone."

Meredith grinned. "Thanks."

* * *

**A/N**

**Sooooo whaddya think of Meredith and Andy? I have big plans for them and ND So stay tuned.**

**IMPORTANT: In chapter 3 of this story I said that ND would be in Winnipeg for 9 days. But I did a count and they've already been there for 6 days, can you believe! And I have so much planned that three days wouldn't be enough. So I'm extending it to twelve days. I hate going back on what I said but my plans are too important and I'm just not ready to end this! :D**

**Love you all! :P**


	22. Chapter 22

"We're back!" Sam called as they walked into the cottage.

"With clean feet, I hope" Will called from the kitchen.

"Yes of course" Kurt nodded.

"Very good" Will smiled, drying his hands on a tea towel as he stepped out of the kitchen.

"Hey, Mr. Schue, would it be alright if we had two friends over for dinner?" Mercedes asked with a kind smile.

"Friends?" he asked in surprise.

"Yeah you know that girl who came over last night to tell us to shut up?" Sugar began.

"Well those weren't her exact words" Will cut in.

"Sure, well, we've been hanging with her on the beach. She's really chill" Sugar said.

"Chill? That's an adjective?" Will asked.

"Yeah" Mercedes nodded. "Don't you know slang at all?"

Will chuckled. "So she's a nice girl?"

They all nodded.

"She's so sweet" Blaine said.

"Okay so who's the other friend?" Will asked.

"Her brother. He's thirteen but he's super quiet and shy" Artie said.

"He won't even look at you" Rachel added.

"Oh? Why not?" Will asked.

"It's a long story" Sam said.

"Well, their dad cheated, step dad died and he was in the car, and their mom has a tough job that keeps her busy" Tina summarized.

Will looked like he was going to cry. "How awful!"

They all nodded slowly.

"So they can come, right?" Finn asked loudly, breaking the sad silence.

"Yes, yes of course" Will said.

"Where's Coach Sylvester?" Quinn asked, noticing the absence of the normally outlandish teacher.

"She went to Town" Will answered.

"To do what? Throw sand at people?" Rory asked.

"Nah, she could go to the beach for that!" Sam pointed out.

They all laughed at that.

"Guys! That's not funny" Will said, but even he was having trouble hiding his smile.

* * *

Meredith and Andy came over twenty minutes later.

"We brought chips" Meredith said, holding up two big bags of chips.

"Aw, thanks!" Rachel smiled and took them from her.

Andy quietly stepped in their cottage. You could see his book hiding under his blue sweater.

Will and Emma came in with warm smiles.

"Meredith, Andy, this is Mr. Schue, our Glee club teacher and Ms. Pillsbury, his fiancé and our guidance councillor and substitute teacher" Kurt said, introducing them.

Meredith smiled at them and shook their hands. Andy stared at them quietly through his curtain of hair.

"So we're making pizzas. Is that okay?" Will asked.

"Yeah! We love pizza, don't we Andy?" Meredith grinned, elbowing her brother.

Andy nodded slowly.

"Sweet!" Will gave a thumbs up. "We'll call you when it's ready."

The teens all went into the sitting room.

They proceeded to chat for a while until the screen door opened.

"Coach Sylvester!" Quinn said quietly.

Sue kicked off her shoes and stalked in.

"Hey Coach Sylvester. Did you have fun in Town?" Kurt politely asked.

"I did, Porcelain, thanks for asking. It was invigorating. You know, I went-" Sue stopped herself. She glanced at the teens and her eyes fell upon Meredith and Andy.

Andy looked positively frightened of her.

"Who are they?" Sue asked. "Last I checked, they weren't on the plane with us. I mean, sure, it took me two years to figure out that Wheels here was a member of the group as I kept mistaking him for a normal chair, but I probably would have noticed you two by now."

"I'm not a chair!" Artie cried.

"This is Meredith and her brother Andy. They're from next door. They're our friends and they're staying for dinner" Quinn explained.

Sue glanced between them and Quinn. "Hm. Well, okay. Welcome."

Meredith smiled awkwardly. Andy stared down.

Sue swiftly turned around and stalked back into the kitchen.

When she was gone, the members of New Direction awkwardly giggled.

"Sorry about that" Kurt sighed.

"Who is she?" Meredith asked.

"She's the Cheerios coach at our school. She's evil, conniving and her head is like a maze. She's had it out for us since day one but recently she's joined forces with us and helped us win Nationals" Tina said.

"She's cray-cray" Puck added.

Meredith giggled. "She seems...fun."

"Hmm. That's a new word. We apologize in advance for any rude insult she slings at you" Finn said. "Most of us just ignore it."

Meredith nodded. "Okay."

"Okay guys!" Will shouted. "Come make your pizzas!"

* * *

Twenty minutes later, they all had little pizzas made just for them. Most of them made normal pizza with cheese and pepperoni. Some got creative and added peppers or olives. Then there were people like Puck and Sam, who loaded their pizzas with a bit of everything and more. Puck even went as far as to slather peanut butter on his.

"Ew, Puck, that looks so gross" Mercedes made a face when she saw his pizza come out of the oven.

"You're gonna get sick" Rachel told him.

Puck just grinned and made a big show about taking his first bite. Everyone stopped their eating to watch it.

"Mmmmm" Puck smiled and closed his eyes.

Brittany made fake gagging sounds.

Will rolled his eyes and turned to Meredith. "So do you guys live here in Victoria Beach?"

Meredith shook her head. "Not really. The cottage has been in my mom's family for many generations. We live in a small city three hours from Winnipeg. Mom has a lot of meetings in Winnipeg in the summer so we come up here so the commute is shorter and we're not bored at home."

"So it's like a summer villa?" Sugar asked. "Except it's not a villa."

"Sure" Meredith laughed.

"Andy, do you like it here in VB?" Blaine asked gently.

Andy looked up from his half eaten olive and cheese pizza. "It's sunny" he said quietly and nodded.

"Except for when it's not" Meredith added. "When it rains, it pours."

They laughed.

"So where are you guys from?" Meredith asked.

"I came from my mother's womb" Brittany answered.

"We all did" Joe told her.

"So you're all my brother and sisters?" Brittany gasped.

"In God's eyes we are" Joe smiled.

"We're from Lima, Ohio" Santana interjected.

"The states? Oh, I thought you were from Canada too" Meredith said.

"Nope. We're American" Rachel proudly said.

"Wow. Have you been to Canada before then?" Meredith asked.

"I have. When I was little" Finn said. "But the rest of the teens haven't."

"So you know we don't live in igloos" Meredith joked.

"And you know we're not all fat McDonalds lovers" Quinn replied.

Meredith laughed. "Oh, stereotypes. Who comes up with these?"

* * *

After dinner, they played a game. The had found a bingo set and they used paper as bingo markers.

"Who'll be the caller?" Tina asked.

"I will" Rory said.

"Make sure to enunciate" Rachel reminded him.

So they started playing. They had even convinced Andy to play.

"B-4" Rory called.

"Before what?" Finn joked.

"Before I punch you out" Santana said. "Kidding."

Quinn was the first to win.

"BINGO!" she yelled when she had her row all filled.

"Why did you scream it?" Kurt asked, who sat next to her and had to cover his ear.

"Come on, that's like Bingo rule number one!" Quinn smiled. "Scream to win!"

"You just made that up" Mike laughed. "But I think it's fun so let's scream!"

"I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!" Brittany sang.

Quinn became the caller and Mercedes ended up winning.

"B to the I to the N, G, O" she grinned and highfived Sam.

"You're caller" Quinn said, handing the numbers to Mercedes.

"O-67" Mercedes began.

After Mercedes called out many more numbers, they heard a 'Bingo'.

Andy was sitting in the corner with his bingo card. He had a full line in the O column. He was smiling a bit, obviously proud of his win.

"Come on Andy, you gotta be louder than that" Sam said.

"You gotta SCREAM!" Blaine yelled with a grin.

Andy smiled a bit more but shook his head.

"Your win is not valid until you scream" Santana said.

Andy bit his lip and slowly looked around at them all. They were all staring to him with large grins awaiting his loud outburst.

"Bingo!" he said a bit louder but it was still not loud enough.

"One more time" Meredith said with twinkling eyes. "Give it your all."

Andy blushed a bit. "Bingo!" he yelled. It wasn't as loud as anyone else's, but it was loud enough for him.

"Yeah!" Rachel cheered. They all clapped.

Andy blushed and smiled wider.

"Now you get to be caller" Mercedes said, thrusting the numbers in his hand.

So Andy was caller. He was still quiet and several times they had to ask him to repeat it, but it was the most Meredith had heard him say in front of new people in ages.

* * *

When Meredith and Andy left, it was nine thirty.

"Thank you so much for having us" Meredith said. "We had so much fun!"

"Anytime! We'll probably see you tomorrow" Rachel said.

"Bye" Andy said quietly.

Finn patted his shoulder. "Later, bro."

"Bye! Thanks!" Meredith said again as they left their cottage.

"I'm real proud of you guys" Will said, once they were gone.

"Why? Because we made a friend" Puck asked.

"Yes and you guys were being so nice to Andy especially. It was so sad to see him like that but you guys were just so kind and patient. I'm really proud" Will said seriously.

"Oh stop, we're blushing" Kurt laughed.

Will laughed and clapped his hands. "Okay so I'm not gonna tell you why, but I suggest going to bed on the earlier side because I have something super cool planned for tomorrow and I'll be getting you up earlier."

"What is it?" Sam asked.

"It's a surprise" Will said as if it was very obvious.

"It better be good if we have to get up early, that's all I'm saying" Santana said.

"It will" Emma said, coming in the room. "Mr. Schue told me what he's got planned and it sound super fun. I think you guys will enjoy it."

"We'll be the judge of that" Artie said, crossing his arms.

* * *

**A/N**

**Ooooh are you all wondering what Will has planned? Hahah it's a secret! I hope you all are still liking Meredith and Andy. I have great plans for them and I think you'll like them. **

**The next chapter will be solely with ND so stay tuned!**

**And check out my glee blog: **

**gleerificnewsstop{dot}wordpress{dot}com**

**byeee! :D**


	23. Chapter 23

"It should be illegal to he woken up at such a crazy time" Mercedes grumbled and punctuated it with a large yawn.

"It's still dark!" Kurt moaned dramatically.

"Oh, you guys are being silly! It's dawn" Will said.

"Dawn is the nice way of saying 'still dark'" Finn said.

Will laughed. "Okay, whatever you say. Just eat some breakfast and get changed. We have to go."

"Go where?" Rachel demanded.

"I'm tell you after" Will smiled. He refused to give away the surprise, even when he knew they'd pester him profusely.

"Is Ms. Pillsbury coming? Or Coach Sylvester?" Quinn asked.

"Not at the moment, but they'll probably both join us later" Will said, putting slices of toast in the toaster win.

"Oh, so THEY can sleep in" Santana said jealously.

"Well THEY won't be active participators in the super fun activity" Will said.

So they slowly unraveled themselves from their sleeping bags and got up. One at a time, they changed out of their pyjamas and into clothes.

"Dress warmly" Will told them. "After all, the sun isn't up yet."

"That's what happens when we awake during to night" Artie said sarcastically.

Then they all got some form of breakfast, whether it be toast, cereal or whatever fruit was in the bowl. Then, when they were all ready, and mostly awake, they went outside. It was still chilly and a thin layer of dew was on the grass.

Will led the group out to the shed. "Okay guys. Are you ready to find out what we'll be doing?"

"Yes!" they all shouted at him.

He smiled and opened the shed door only enough for him to slip in. He reappeared a moment later with a sly smile. Then she stepped out of the shed. In his hand, was a fishing rod.

"We're going fishing!" Will said excitedly.

"Sick!" Finn said with equal enthusiasm.

"I've never done that before" Tina said.

"I've played the little game with the magnets" Brittany said.

"I've been fishing before" Blaine said. "It's quiet."

"It takes patience" Joe said.

"Wait, we're going to use pointy hooks and stuff to kill poor, innocent fish?" Rachel squeaked. "That's so awful!"

Will paused. He had forgotten that Rachel was a vegan and animal lover.

"You don't have to fish if you don't want to" Mercedes said.

"Are we eating the fish we catch?" Rory asked.

"If we catch some good fish" Will answered.

"You don't have to eat them, Rach" Finn said to the cross-armed girl.

"It's wrong" Rachel said. "And cruel."

"Oh, Rachel, stop pretending you're a perfect vegan" Kurt said. "You ate those chocolate covered bacon samples at the mall."

"And you ate chicken at my house once!" Finn added.

"What?" Rachel screeched.

"Okay, okay" Will said, intervening before it got ugly. "Look, Rachel, no one is making you fish or eat the fish. But I think you should at least come along."

"Fine" Rachel huffed.

* * *

So they each grabbed a fishing rod, made sure they were properly strung and hooked and got on their bikes. Artie, in his carriage thing, held many rods for the riders but some of the people, like Puck and Mike said they could handle their own rods. They all peddled down the road, which is quiet and empty at such an early time.

"Okay guys, you all go down to the pier. And please don't jump in the water" Will said as they came to the fork in the road. One side led down a slope to the pier and the other led to Town.

"Wait, where are you going?" Tina asked. Will's bike was pointed to the road headed into Town.

"I have to pick something up. But I'll be there in ten minutes" Will said.

So the teens rode down the slope and soon arrived at the pier. It wasn't empty. There was an old man fishing by himself. He sat in a lawn chair and looked asleep.

"Or dead" Sugar whispered as they passed by. They rode to the end of the pier where they had jumped off a few days earlier and left their bikes in one large heap.

"Okay so who's up for a dip?" Puck said excitedly, staring down at the water.

"Mr. Schue fully said to stay out of the water" Mercedes said.

Puck rolled his eyes. "He'll never know."

"No because being dripping wet isn't a total clue" Quinn said.

"I'll dry off" Puck said.

"With what? A towel? None here. The sun? It's barely risen" Rachel pointed out.

Puck gave up. "Fine, whatever. You guys are lame."

"No, Puck, you're lame" Rachel said firmly.

"Yo, so who has been fishing before? Raise your hands!" Artie asked loudly, trying to distract Puck and Rachel from their growing argument.

Blaine, Finn, Quinn, Sam, Mercedes, Joe and Santana raised their hand.

"Santana, you've been fishing?" Sam asked incredulously.

Santana shrugged. "My Abuela took me a few times."

"Neat" Sam nodded, knowing that was a sensitive topic. Will rode up only a few minutes later. He had carried the tackle box with him when they left the cottage, but now he had a small plastic shopping bag with him too.

"What's in the bag?" Rory asked curiously.

Will hopped off his bike, neatly stood it up, and shot a disapproving glance at the teens' pile of bikes. He beamed at the group as if the secret to the bag's contents were just bursting out of him.

"In this bag, I have the single most important thing for fishing" Will said.

"Fish?" Brittany asked.

Will snapped his finger at her. "That's actually half right!"

Brittany fist pumped and Finn patted her on the shoulder.

"You have fish in the bag? What?" Kurt asked, taking a small step back from Will.

"Well, actually, I have bait. They're minnows, see?" Will opened the bag to reveal four little plastic containers. He took out one container and opened it. Inside were about thirty small silver fish, each the size of Rachel's index finger. They were shiny with some liquid but were dead.

"Ew!" Sugar hissed and backed away.

"Sick! Can I touch one?" Puck grinned, and before Will could answer, he placed his finger on it. "Slippery and slick."

"Like Blaine's head, I'm sure" Santana said.

Blaine pouted, looking very offended.

"These little guys get hooked on the hooks and the fish come and eat them and get caught on the rod. Then you reel them up" Will said.

"Oh perfect! More defenceless creatures to kill for fishing. Mr. Schue, are you sure this is legal?" Rachel blabbed.

Will chuckled. "Yup."

"Well let's start fishing!" Mike said.

"Contest! Whoever catches the most fish at the end wins!" Brittany declared.

"I'm so gonna win" Finn said. "Bring it on!"

They all, minus Rachel, picked up a rod and Will handed around the minnow container so they could all take one.

"Oh no way Mr. Schue" Mercedes said. "I'm fine with fishing, but you're all joking if you think I'm touching those."

"Same" Kurt quickly said. "That's gross."

"Sissies" Sam snickered and Mercedes glared at him.

"I'll touch the scary little fish for you two" Blaine offered, obviously mocking them.

Kurt and Mercedes smiled, ignoring the rudeness.

So after a few minutes and several squeals of disgust, the rods were loaded and ready to go.

"Do you all know how to cast off?" Finn asked in a teacher-like tone.

"Yes" some of them answered.

"No" most of them answered.

"Okay so you press this button and swing it back and let go of the button as you aim it forward. The wire will go out into the water" Finn said, pointing out the button on his rod.

"The biggest thing you need to know is to NOT let go of the rod when you aim forward" Will said. "And make sure you don't hit anyone when you swing back."

"And remember" Santana began with a smirk. "Sam's lips are not fish, despite their complete fishy look!"

So they all lined up and attempted to cast off. Most of them were able to do it on the first or second try. A few of them couldn't get it after the fourth try and Will helped them. Rachel refused to even hold a rod. "I'm protesting animal rights" she said to anyone who would listen. "You should join me." That usually got a few nasty choice words in reply.

"Now what?" Kurt asked, staring at the thin lines in the water.

"Yeah, when do we start catching fish?" Brittany asked.

"In five minutes and twenty three seconds" Quinn said.

"Really?" Brittany blinked.

"No, Doofus" Puck said. "Even I knew it was sarcasm!"

"Brittany, there's no set time for fish to start biting" Will said. "You just have to be patient."

"You know what my dad would tell me when I was bored of waiting? He would tell me to sing the fishing song" Joe said.

Rachel's eyes lit up.

"There's a song?" Santana rolled her eyes.

Joe nodded. "It goes like this: I wishy wishy that a fishy would come and bite my hook."

"I've never heard anything stupider than that in my life" Santana said, adjusting her line a bit then doing the same for Brittany.

"I think it's cute" Tina said.

"That's not a real song" Rachel frowned. "That's a rhyme."

"Says the writer of 'My Headband'" Artie said.

"That had a melody and tune and verses. It was a song" Rachel said firmly.

"Guys! Guys!" Rory shouted in a panicked voice. His rod was in his hand, being tugged into the water.

"He's got a bite!" Sugar said proudly and excitedly.

They all rushed around Rory to watch him reel in his line. He seemed to struggle a bit and he kept mumbling something that no one understood. Finally, after what seemed like an hour, the end of his line appeared and on the end was a fish. It was as long as his forearm and was silver and scaly.

"Woah!" Rory grinned, holding up his prize. "It was heavier than it looks!"

Mercedes pulled out her camera and took a pictures of Rory with his fish.

"That is revolting" Rachel said, looking at the hook that was pierced in the side of the fish's mouth.

"Here, Rory, put it down" Will said and they all stepped back so Rory could set it down on the ground. Right away, it started flopping around.

"Woah, it's a jumper!" Blaine laughed as the fish wiggles again.

Will grabbed a set of pliers from the tackle box and held down the fish gently with his foot.

"Can't wait to eat that" Mike said.

"Sorry guys but not this one" Will said as he yanked the hook out. "This is a silver bass. These things have lots of little bones and are a pain to clean. What we're keeping is perch."

"Aw" Rory sighed.

Once the hook was out, Will pushed the fish to the edge of the pier where it fell off and landed in the water with a plop.

"Say goodbye!" Will said and Rory waved.

"Back to your rods. You shouldn't have taken your eyes off of them" Will said as they rushed back to their rods.

* * *

An hour later, the sun was up fully and there were in a better mood. Five more fished had been caught. One by Finn, one by Quinn, one by Tina, and two by Joe. Mercedes had pictures of them all.

"It's no wonder Teen Jesus can catch all the fish" Sam laughed.

One of the five fish was another silver bass, but the other four were perch and were kept.

There were more fish below, though, as they kept reeling up hooks with missing minnows.

"Those darn fish" Finn grunted when he pulled up his second minnow-less hook.

"It's okay" Will said, handing him the minnow container. "We have plenty of minnows."

"Kurt, look, your rod!" Quinn said, pointing to Kurt's rod, which jerked suddenly. Kurt grabbed ahold of it and it jerked in his hand.

"Tug the rod back to lock it in place!" Finn shouted and Kurt did that.

"Now reel! Reel!" Blaine said. Kurt started reeling it in.

"This is really heavy" Kurt groaned as he reeled.

"Don't let go!" Tina encouraged.

"I can't reel any more! Someone help!" Kurt gasped. Mike leaped forward and grabbed the rod and pulled it up.

"Holy cow! Kurt, that fish is huge!" Brittany gasped as Mike and Kurt together managed to pull the rod up so the fish was a bit out of water.

Sure enough, there was an extremely large bass on the end of the line.

"Wow!" Puck said, stepping to the side so Mercedes could see and take pictures.

"Mike, this isn't working" Kurt said. Finn and Puck stepped forward to also help but before they could get a hand on the rod, there was a snap followed by a large splash as the fish fell back into the water.

"My line!" Kurt gasped, watching the fish disappear into the water.

"It broke the line" Sugar said with wide eyes.

Kurt looked very disappointed. "Stupid fish."

"It's alright" Will said, ushering Kurt to the tackle box. "We can simply fix this." He pulled out a ball of fishing line.

"Santana, you're staring at that rod quite intently" Quinn observed. Santana was sitting cross-legged, staring at her rod with her head resting in her hands. She had been in that position for three minutes straight.

"I can't tell if the rod is shaking because of the water or a fish" Santana said. Her rod was gently bobbing.

Quinn shrugged. "Your rod is moving more than Brittany's" Quinn said. "It must be a fish."

"Hmmm. A sneaky little fish who, instead of biting the minnow, is simply nibbling away" Santana said. "I'll get you!" she shouted and proceeded to mutter in Spanish.

"Shhh!" Blaine said. "You'll scare away the fish."

Finally, Santana's rod gave a more violent tug and she leaped to her feet and started reeling and tugging. It was obvious she had been fishing before. She managed to pull up a decent sized perch.

"Keeper!" Santana declared proudly and Will nodded from where he stood, still fixing Kurt's rod.

"I'll deal with it" Puck said, handing Artie his rod and rolling up his sleeves. He began taking the hook out of Santana's fish.

"What do fish feel like?" Brittany asked, looking at it.

"Smooth one way and like knives the other" Finn said. "Go on, touch it."

Brittany slowly reached out a dainty hand and ran her finger along the fish from head to fin. Then she did it the other way.

"Oooh prickly!" she smiled.

"This hook's really stuck in here" Puck frowned. "The fish basically swallowed it."

"Ew" Mercedes commented, but snapped a picture anyways.

"Need help, Puck?" Will asked, coming over.

"Nope, got it!" Puck grinned and held up the hook. It, and his hand, were covered in fish blood and water.

Will took the fish and attached it to the line that held the other fish that they'd be taking home.

"Five yummy fish for dinner" Sugar licked her lips.

"Ew!" Rachel yelled loudly. "How could you even think of eating that?"

Puck extended his bloody, fish-gut covered hands. "Fish guts!" he grinned, holding his hands inches away from Rachel's face.

Rachel screamed so loud that a few pelicans that were floating on the water flew away.

"Puck! That's not nice" Will chastised.

So Puck moved away from Rachel, who was in tears and was being comforted by Finn, and picked a new target: Mercedes and Sugar. They were sitting so they were looking out at the water. Puck snuck up behind them and dangled his hands in front of their faces.

Sugar screeched, but not nearly as loud as Rachel, and Mercedes leaned back and accidentally elbowed Puck in the 'area'.

"Ooooh! Man, that must suck!" Mike laughed sympathetically.

"Karma!" Brittany snickered as Puck winced in pain.

"Hey all, look here!" Santana called. She had hooked her rod's hook to the belt loop of Sam's pants. "I caught me a Trouty Mouth!"

"Hey!" Sam yelled when he realized he was attached to her rod. "Not nice!"

* * *

"Hello fishers!" Emma called as she and Sue rode up. It was ten now and the gang was growing restless of sitting still and waiting for fish to bite.

"Hey" Will smiled and kissed Emma.

"How's the catch?" Emma asked, walking to where the kids stood.

"Great! We've in total caught sixteen and are keeping eleven!" Blaine said.

"I caught the most" Joe said happily. "Three!"

"Yay! Yay fishing" Emma smiled.

"You know" Sue began. "I am a great fisher. Once, I caught a fish that was a big as myself."

"Really, now?" Tina asked, but her words were laced with doubt.

Sue nodded. "Give me a rod, I'll catch you some winners."

"Here, use Rachel's rod" Kurt said.

"Why aren't you fishing?" Emma asked Rachel, who was still sour over Puck's actions.

"I refuse to participate in such a violent and inhumane sport. It's barbaric and gross" Rachel firmly started.

"Rachel's a vegan" Finn said. "She thinks killing animals is wrong."

"And I'm being forced to come along and watch this" Rachel added.

"Oh, yes, because we LOVE your company" Puck rolled his eyes.

Tina flicked him. "Some of us actually do."

"Well, Rachel, um, I think it's good that you're here and at least trying to put up with it and, um, it's good that you're not caving to, um, peer pressure. You know, uh, say no to status quo" Emma said.

Rachel nodded.

"See here?" Sue called loudly. Sure enough, on the end of her line was a small perch.

"Wow" Quinn said and they all nodded. No one had actually believed she could do it. "Good job Coach Sylvester."

"Unfortunately, that fish is a bit too small to keep" Will said.

Sue growled at him. "How dare you rain on my parade, William."

Rachel's eyes lit up.

"Don't start, Rachel" Kurt warned, as he knew she was about to sing.

Sue demanded Mercedes take ten pictures of her fish. Then she took it off her line and pitched it at a pelican. The bird caught the fish in its mouth. Rachel looked like she was about to vomit.

* * *

**A/N**

**Hey everyone! I know I normally post on Fridays but this week I just got lazy and missed my goal. So I was going to just hold on and post next Friday, but then I realized that I'll be at some relative's house so I won't have wifi. So I'm posting now and will be doing lots of writing so in two weeks time, I'll deffo have an awesome chapter for you. And if not, I give you all permission to slap me. **

**Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter. Fishing is one of my fave things to do in VB. :)**

**Thanks for reading/reviewing!**

**HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND MAY YOU ALL BE HAPPY AND HEALTHY THIS HOLIDAY SEASON. I LOVE YOU. **


	24. Chapter 24

It was almost eleven when they started packing up their fishing rods. They had a grand total of seventeen fish that they were keeping and had caught twenty four.

"So who caught the most fish?" Will asked them.

Finn raised his hand. He had pulled the lead with three fish.

"I'm dating a murderer!" Rachel shouted.

"Sorry" Finn said, but no one believed he meant it.

Then they heard a bike bell ding.

"Look who it is!" Sugar smiled.

"Meredith! And Andy!" Mercedes said.

Meredith and Andy rode up with grins. Well, Meredith had a grin. Andy just stared at them.

"Hey" Meredith smiled as she came up to them. She saw the fishing rods. "Were you guys fishing?"

"Yeah!" Sam said. "It was great. We caught a bunch of fish."

"Nice" Meredith nodded.

"No it is not nice" Rachel began sternly.

"Ignore her" Quinn told Meredith. "She's a vegan and is opposed to fishing."

"Oh..." Meredith said. "So how many did you catch?"

"Twenty four total" Rory said. "But we're only keeping seventeen."

"Nice" Meredith smiled. "I love fishing."

"Too bad we didn't know, or you could have come with us" Will said, closing the tackle box.

Meredith shrugged. "It's alright. We go fishing like every week, don't we Andy?"

Andy nodded. "One time I caught two fish at once" he said quietly.

Meredith nodded. "Yeah! We have lines with two hooks and Andy caught two fish at once. It was so cool."

"Neat" Finn said.

"So what are you doing here?" Blaine asked.

"Oh, I lost my sunglasses and I was just looking for them" Meredith said.

"We didn't see any" Rachel said.

"Thanks, but I know I didn't drop them on the ground. I came to check the boat" Meredith smiled.

"Boat?" Puck gasped. "You have a boat?"

Meredith nodded and pulled a set of keys out from her hoodie pocket. "It's a small little motor boat. Andy and I had been begging Mom for ages and she finally had enough money. It was our Christmas present."

"Does it work?" Rachel asked.

"No, we just keep it around to look at" Meredith rolled her eyes. "Of course it works."

"Which one?" Joe asked, looking at the dock that was lined with boats of all sizes.

Meredith put down the kickstand of her bike and walked down the dock and stopped at a small white boat. It could hold about four people. It was bobbing on the water slowly and was chained to the dock.

"This is it. Our baby" Meredith said proudly. She pulled back the grey cover and hopped in. She opened a small compartment. "Aha!" She held up a pair of black sunglasses.

"Do you have a boating license?" Finn asked.

"Yup" Meredith said. "We both do." She hopped out of the boat. "I'd invite you for a boat ride, but I'm afraid it's out of gas. Mom's gonna pick some up next time she goes to Winnipeg. I think she goes up tomorrow."

"It's okay. We couldn't all fit anyways" Santana said.

"Well, maybe we could if we all shrunk down" Brittany said.

"Hey guys, we're going back to the cottage now" Will said. "Lunch time."

"Oh good, I'm starving" Sam grinned.

"We'll see you around" Meredith said. "We have errands to run."

She and Andy got back on their bikes and rode off.

The members of New Directions packed up their rods onto their bikes and made their way back to the cottage.

* * *

After lunch, which was quesadillas, they were bored.

"Now what?" Mike asked, lying on the floor. "I'm bored."

"Join the club" Blaine replied, also lying on the floor, but face down as opposed to Mike's face up.

"I have an idea" Will said. In his hand was a bright blue sheet of paper. "This is like the event outline for Victoria Beach. And it says that today at two, there's crafts for kids ages twelve and up."

"Twelve and up? That means like fourteen year olds. Not eighteen year olds" Santana scoffed. "We're too old."

"Nonsense" Will said. "I say you go."

"Yeah, I agree with Mr. Schue" Mercedes said. "We should at least see what the crafts are. Maybe it'll be fun."

"And it's not like we have anything better to do" Kurt reminded them.

"Please. I am a man. I don't do crafts" Puck said. "Count me out."

"Okay let's put this to a vote" Artie said. "All those who want to do a craft, put your hand up."

Everyone except Puck, Santana and Rory put their hand up.

"And you three don't?" Tina asked them.

Santana shrugged. "Since Brittany's going, I'll go too."

"There's no way I'm staying here with Irish" Puck said. He turned to Rory. "No offence."

"I don't want to be alone" Rory sighed. "So I guess I'll join you guys too."

"Yay so we're all going!" Kurt clapped his hands. "Even Rachel!"

"I happen to like crafts" Rachel said.

"What if the craft is duck hunting?" Brittany asked.

"That isn't a craft" Rachel rolled her eyes. "And that's just stupid."

Brittany frowned at her. "Your face is just stupid."

"Your mom is just stupid" Rachel shot.

"Actually" Rory started. "Brittany's mom is very smart. She said she got a PhD in chemistry. So you're wrong."

"Yeah! You're wrong!" Brittany said.

"Oh! Burn! Would you like some burn heal for the burn?" Artie laughed.

"Nerd" Rachel muttered.

"Uh-oh" Kurt whispered to Blaine. "Here we go."

"I got it" Blaine whispered. "Mr. Schuester?" he called loudly so he interrupted everyone. "Where is this craft session taking place?"

"Good question, Blaine" Will said. He looked at the paper. "It's at the clubhouse."

"It's in a tree?" Joe asked, very surprised.

"What?" Quinn stared at him like he had two heads.

"He said clubhouse so I assumed it was like those wooden box houses in a tree that kids have clubs in" Joe said.

"A treehouse?" Santana giggled.

Joe shrugged with a smile. "Sure."

"That's ridiculous. How could we all do crafts in a tree?" Finn said.

"What if it was a really big treehouse? Like those ones that crazy nature people live in. I saw it on TV once. This couple lived in this sick wooden house in the trees. It was huge and really neat" Sam explained enthusiastically.

"Your weirdness is creeping me out" Santana said. "Stop now."

Sam chuckled. "It's not weird. It's interesting."

"It's dorky" Santana said.

"Here we go again" Kurt sighed, flopping on the floor next to Blaine.

"And again, I got this" Blaine smiled. "Mr. Schuester? Where is the clubhouse?"

Will stared at the paper then flipped it over so they could all see. "There's a map here. And it's this little square over by the pier" Will said, pointing.

"By the pier? Is it that random building that we had no idea what it was?" Mercedes asked.

Will nodded. "I think so."

"So it's used just for crafts?" Rachel asked.

"No. It's used for many things. Movies, book sales, flea markets-"

"I once went to one of those. But they weren't selling fleas at all. It was lame" Brittany told them.

"-meetings, parties, and more" Will listed. "It's very versatile."

"Cool" Finn said.

"You said at two, right? We still have an hour" Quinn said.

"Time for TV" Brittany declared and grabbed the remote. "And no, we are not watching some dumb sports game."

Puck and Finn groaned.

* * *

"Woah this place looks busy" Mike commented as they biked up to the clubhouse. The normally bare front of the building was busy with many bikes and people. The front doors were thrown wide open and they could see lots of people inside.

"Are we late?" Kurt asked.

Mercedes looked at her watch. "By four minutes."

"Maybe this many people is normal" Tina said wisely. "Now come on. Let's go in."

They parked their bikes on the sand in a heap as all the bike racks were full. Then they headed inside and were greeted by people in purple golf shirts and sported name tags. It was an empty building that echoed. There was a small stage to their right, that had five large buckets set up on it. More golf shirt wearing people were up there.

"They must work here" Rachel said.

In the middle of the room were two long tables with fold up chairs all around. Many of the seats were taken.

"What's the craft?" Blaine asked a worker.

"Tie-dye Tshirts!" the large worker said enthusiastically.

"Fun!" Mercedes said.

They moved to the far end of a table so they could all sit together. Then they each took a blank Tshirt.

"Ew, these shirts cost less than ten dollars. I've never worn something so cheap!" Sugar complained.

"No one can tell" Artie said.

Sugar sighed and shut up.

"I've done tie-dye before" Quinn said. "What are the markers for?" Down the table in a plastic cup were a multitude of permanent markers in various colours.

"Maybe to decorate the shirt?" Sam said as if it was obvious.

"Neat!" Mercedes grinned and grabbed a yellow marker and proceeded to draw stars on her shirt.

"This is so gay" Puck said. "No offence" he added with a nod to Blaine. "I'm not wearing this."

"Come on Puck" Rachel said. "It's fun!"

"So is fishing" Puck stuck his tongue out at her.

"Look, no ones making you wear it. Just make it and give it to your sister, we don't care. Just stop ruining our fun" Mercedes said.

Puck sighed and took a dark green marker from the cup.

Twenty minutes later, they were all hard at work on their shirts, even Sugar and Puck.

"Here guys" Finn said, holding up a marker. "I want you all to sign the back of my shirt."

"Oh, that's a great idea!" Rachel squealed and wrote her name in the middle of the shirt then drew a large heart around it.

"On mine too" Artie said.

They all eventually signed each other's shirts.

"These are so cute!" Mercedes said, taking pictures occasionally.

"Puck, what on earth are you doing?" Kurt gasped. Puck was tearing the sleeves off his shirt.

"I just want to show off my guns" Puck grinned.

"So you are going to wear it?" Santana asked.

"Not in public. Because again, that would be gay. But I figured I can use it when I work out or when I want to look like a hobo so people buy me drinks" Puck shrugged.

"You know, for Puck, that's not a half bad idea" Santana smiled.

"Aw, Blaine, your shirt is so cute!" Tina said. Blaine held up his shirt for them to see. He had drawn a bowtie and suspenders on it.

"So I can wear them even when I don't" Blaine told them.

"Let's see your shirt, Kurt" Mercedes promoted.

Kurt sighed and held his up too. "This surely will be the most hideous thing I own." His shirt had a neat pocket drawn on and a silver chain of a pocket watch drawn on over it. He had drawn a better collar on it too.

"See, Kurt and Blaine are smart. They drew their shirt to look like a shirt" Tina said. "Good job, guys."

"It's still a fashion step down for Kurt Hummel" Kurt sighed. "I mean, tie-dye? Really? What is this, the eighties?"

"It may be step down for you, but it's a step up for Rachel unless she drew a whole deer on the front of her shirt like those barfy sweaters she wears" Santana smirked. "Let's see your shirt, Rachel."

Rachel glared at Santana but held up her shirt all the same. Her shirt had a large yellow star in the middle. Rachel wrote her name in the middle of the star and had words all around the star.

"What's it say?" Mike asked.

"They're the names of my idols like Patti LuPone and Barbra Streisand. And there are also titles of my favourite songs and musicals" Rachel explained, looking very proud of her shirt.

"Wonderful" Kurt smiled at her.

"To each her own" Quinn mumbled.

Finn had drawn various sports on his shirt, Mercedes drew stars and hearts and rainbows, Joe wrote out bible verses, Rory drew shamrocks, Sam drew some comic book super hero, Mike drew a dancer and music notes, Tina drew a large smily face, Sugar drew bling, Brittany drew Lord Tubbington sliding down a rainbow, Santana wrote 'Property of Santana Lopez' on the front along with a pair of devil horns and a tail, Puck wrote 'Puckzilla' on the front, Artie wrote 'Keep Calm and Wheel On' and Quinn drew a huge flower.

"Now what? Time to dye?" Finn asked.

"Nope, we gotta put elastics on them" Quinn said, picking up an elastic from the huge pile of them.

"What? Those are for the shirts?" Puck gasped. "I already flung four of them at people!"

"Brilliant" Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Just take a bunch of shirt, ball it and put an elastic around it" Quinn instructed. "Like this."

"Bigger bunches mean less colour, right?" Sam said.

Quinn nodded. "Yup."

* * *

"Hey! You're back! How was the craft?" Will asked when they came back to the cottage.

"Sick!" Sam said with a grin.

"That's good, right?" Will smiled. "What did you make? Where are they?"

"We made tie-dye Tshirts" Blaine said. "And we could decorate them and stuff. It was cool."

"But they're still drying" Rachel piped up. "We left them there. But don't worry, the workers said we could."

"They also said we could pick them up tonight. Apparently, there's a movie playing there" Finn said.

"So you guys are going?" Will asked. "What movie?"

"The movie is Finding Nemo, so of course we're going!" Brittany said.

Will chuckled. "Well alright then."

"Hey guys!" Sugar said. "Check it out, it's started to rain."

"It's just a drizzle" Mike said casually.

"Yes!" Finn cheered.

Quinn rolled her eyes. Even after two years...

* * *

**A/N**

**This chapter had some foreshadowing. I'm not going to give anythin away, but I have HUGE plans. :)**

**Did you all have great holidays? I did. Yay.**

**So you may be wondering about the craft thingy. That is totally true. At the Clubhouse in VB they have crafts all the time. It's fun. They also play movies, like mentioned in the chapter.**

**Anyways, see you soon when I post the next chapter :)**

**A huge hug to all my reviewers who make me smile.**

**Check out my Glee blog too, okay?**

**gleerificnewsstop{dot}wordpress{dot}com**


	25. Chapter 25

It was still raining after dinner.

"Are we still going to the movie?" Rachel asked, looking out the window and watching rain land on the window ledge.

"Of course" Santana said.

"Yeah, it's just a light drizzle-" Sam began.

Finn giggled.

"-we won't melt" Sam finished.

"My hair will get wet" Sugar wailed.

"Wear a hat" Mike pointed at her.

"Maybe Mr. Schue has umbrellas we can use" Joe suggested.

"Yeah, I'm sure he has sixteen umbrellas just lying around" Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Rory can magic up some for us, can't you?" Brittany smiled and looked expectantly at Rory.

"No I most certainly can not" Rory frowned.

"Does your magic not work in other countries?" Brittany asked.

"Um, yes. That's exactly why" Rory sighed.

When it was time for them to leave, it was still lightly raining.

"All I could find were three umbrellas" Emma said, holding them out.

"Well, they're pretty big so six of us could stay dry" Kurt said.

So Kurt shared an umbrella with Blaine, Sugar shared an umbrella with Rory and Mercedes shared an umbrella with Sam.

So they set off walking.

"Hey guys..." Finn said as they were walking.

"Hello" Sam laughed.

Finn rolled his eyes. "I have a question."

"We may have an answer" Quinn joked.

"Where has Coach Sylvester been this whole time?" Finn asked.

"He's right!" Mercedes said. "She's been MIA this whole trip basically."

"What could she possibly be doing?" Blaine asked. "Half the time we're out of ideas for stuff to do. It's hard to believe she found something to do by herself none the less."

"Maybe she has a boyfriend?" Santana suggested with a smirk.

"Maybe..." Kurt's eyes narrowed as he considered the possibility. "Maybe, but I don't think so. Didn't she try and marry herself last year?"

"Really?" Blaine asked.

"Maybe she goes to Winnipeg?" Tina suggested. "There's more exciting stuff to do there."

"Everyday? No. Besides, she shows up for meals" Quinn said.

"Occasionally" Sam added with a grin.

* * *

"Oh man. The smell. I'm weak" Puck said as they walked into the clubhouse, which was swarming with people. They were hit with the smell of freshly popped buttery popcorn as soon as they walked in.

"Who has money?" Finn asked, spotting a popcorn maker across the room. There was a lineup of kids waiting to purchase their own bag of warm buttery popcorn.

"I didn't bring any with me. I didn't think I'd need it for a movie" Mercedes said sadly.

"I have five dollars and...sixteen, no, seventeen cents!" Mike announced proudly, hold up his pockets' contents.

"I can't believe I hang out with you guys" Sugar sighed. "You're all so poor." She reached into her pocket and pulled out several rumpled bills. "This should cover it all, right?"

"Sugar, we can't ask you to pay for all of us" Quinn shook her head.

"Sure we can!" Puck yelped.

"Puck!" Quinn scolded. "Sugar, we'll pay you back. We swear."

Sugar laughed airily. "No need."

Sugar, Rory and Artie got in line.

"You guys go get seats" Artie said.

The only available spots for all of them was at the very back. They didn't even get seats. But they settled themselves on the floor, where they had plenty of leg room and enough room for Artie's wheelchair.

The three of them returned with armfuls of popcorn bags.

"Sugar, I love you" Sam said as she handed him a bag.

She giggled. "Everyone loves me. I'm pretty, rich, funny, sweet..."

"Humble, honest, not annoying in the least..." Rachel added with a smirk.

Sugar missed the sarcasm. "You're right!"

"Hey look! It's Meredith! Meredith! Meredith! Over here" Mercedes waved her arms.

Meredith smiled when she saw them and came over. Andy followed close behind.

"Hey!" Meredith greeted. "Can we sit here?"

"Yeah, we got plenty of room" Tina scooted over.

"Thanks. Andy, the movie should be starting soon so get in line now if you want popcorn" Meredith said.

Andy nodded and ran over to the line.

"Is it normally this busy?" Santana asked Meredith.

"Yeah. The worst is when the movie ends and everyone leaves at once. It's a mad house out there. Normally Andy and I walk here, but Mom got us gas for the boat so we had to bike. So we'll be making a super fast exit" Meredith grinned.

"Do you guys come here for movie often?" Joe asked.

"Yeah all the time!" Meredith said. "Even the stupid movies. They're fun to laugh at."

"Shhhh! The movie's starting!" Blaine put a finger to his lips, covering a bit of his smile.

* * *

"It's pouring now!" Rachel gasped. The movie had ended, and like Meredith had said, it was a mad rush to leave. As soon as the last scene faded to black, Meredith had jumped up, grabbed Andy's arm and they hurried out, whispering goodbyes to the New Direction gang.

They had waited until everyone else had cleared before leaving. They walked out of the clubhouse to find large puddles and the rain still falling heavily.

"We'll get soaked!" Artie gasped.

"And we only have three umbrellas" Quinn reminded them all.

"I guess we gotta run for it" Puck said, a grin stretching across his face. He took off from the shelter of the building into the rain. Once he was in the middle of the road, he waved at the others, who stood, still dry, watching him.

"Every man for himself, I suppose" Sam laughed. He, too, ran out into the rain and was followed by everyone else.

The girls shrieked as they were hit with the cold water.

"My shirt is soaked already!" Puck said. "Now the ladies can see the abs."

"Last one home is a rotten egg!" Mike yelled and took off down the road.

"How mature" Santana said, but smiled and ran after him.

They all dashed down the road, avoiding those potholes filled with water. By the time they made it to the large hill, they were all soaked and shivering. They were also huffing and puffing from running. But they all sported large grins. Something about running like maniacs in a summer storm was thrilling. Sugar was the only one who used an umbrella, but she ran too and she was still wet despite her attempts to cover herself.

"Come on!" Blaine yelled cheerfully and grabbed Kurt's hand.

They dashed down the hill. Artie had one hand on the brakes of his wheelchair at all time because he was going so fast.

"I can't even see where I'm going!" Rachel yelped as she ran down the hill. "The rain is obscuring my view!"

"It's even worse with glasses!" Artie replied.

The hill finally levelled out out they came to the entrance of the cottage's lawn.

"I win!" Sam yelled, leaping up on the porch.

Last to make it on the porch was Sugar.

"I'm wearing platform sandals. I can't run in those!" she whined.

"You're back! And you're soaked to the bone!" Emma said when she saw them come in. She set aside her magazine and hurried to them.

"Phew! That was something" Mercedes said, stepping in.

Brittany wrung out her hair.

"Try not to drip on the floor" Emma said, wrinkling her nose. "And take off your muddy shoes."

Will walked over from the luggage room. "Oh, hey guys! Wow, you're all wet!"

Quinn gave a thumbs up. "Good observing skills."

Rory shivered.

"Are you guys cold? Here, I'll get the fire going" Will said, going to the fireplace and opening the gate.

"Go get changed out of your wet clothes" Emma said. "Then bring them here so I can p- oh my gosh!"

A loud clap of thunder boomed out and shook the cottage. Emma jumped and Brittany screeched.

"Was that thunder or the apocalypse?" Kurt sarcastically asked, his hand on his heart.

"Thunder" Will confirmed, striking matches.

"Anyways, bring you clothes here so we can hang them up to dry. They obviously won't dry outside" Emma said, ushering the kids away from the door so she could mop up the puddles from where they stood.

Tina sneezed.

"Bless you!" Joe piped up.

They all went and got dry clothes, mostly thick sweaters and socks, changed into them and gathered around the fire that Mr. Schuester had started. It was blazing strong and lit up the whole room. Their clothes were hung up on a home-made clothes line Emma made by taping one end of twine to one wall and the other end on the wall across the room.

"Aw, Quinn stole the last blanket" Kurt frowned, walking into the circle that they sat in.

Quinn smirked and settled down next to Joe with the blue knitted blanket.

Santana and Brittany had the red one and Rachel had brought a pink one that her and Finn were huddled under.

"Now I'm gonna freeze and it's all Quinn's fault, you kn- hey, Tina, where'd you get that?" Kurt asked, staring at the large navy blue blanket that Tina and Mike were arranging.

"You packed that big thing in your suitcase?" Sugar asked.

Tina giggled. "No, sillies. It's my sleeping bag! It has a zipper so I can open it up and use it as a blanket."

"Brilliant!" Sam grinned and dove for his sleeping bag. Everyone else did the same.

"So much cozier" Kurt grinned as he cuddled up to Blaine under his sleeping bag.

Blaine smiled too. "I second that."

"Sam, we're too far from the fire" Mercedes said. "We gotta butt-shuffle over there." The two of them, without getting up, shuffled around slowly like slugs until they were closer to the fire.

"Mucho better" Sam grinned.

"You're not spanish" Mercedes rolled her eyes.

"Shhhh guys listen to the wind" Brittany said and everyone shut up.

The wind was loud and howled through the trees, rattling the frames of the windows and with each bang of thunder, the cottage shook.

"Scary" Artie whispered.

"Makes me glad we're all in here together safe and warm" Finn said, resting his chin on Rachel's head.

"Hear, hear!" Quinn smiled.

"Ah, I knew I smelled smoke" Sue said, coming in the cottage from the bunk house.

"Well, the kids were soaked when they got back so we started a fire to warm them up" Will said with a smile.

"Well, I'd be careful if I were you. This place could burn down in an instant" Sue said.

"We're very careful" Emma assured her.

Sue walked over to where they all sat and joined them.

"So where's the s'mores? Can't have a fire without them" Sue looked around.

Everyone else stared at her as they couldn't believe that she was being genuinely civil.

Finally Will snapped out of the shock. "Uh, I don't know about graham and chocolate, but I did buy marshmallows. I'll get them."

Will got up and went to the kitchen. He came back with two bags of marshmallows and several metal rods.

"These are shish-kabob sticks but we can use them for roasting marshmallows" he grinned.

"Marshmallows roasting on an open fire..." Sam began singing.

"It's not Christmas!" Santana said loudly and Sam stopped.

"I know" Sam laughed. "That wasn't even the right lyric."

* * *

They roasted marshmallows until they were all gone and their hands were sticky. The fire slowly died down and the room was in darkness. The rain hadn't let up at all as it still pounded against the roof and north wall. The wind was also strong and they could hear it pick up once and a while. The thunder was also still going strong and there was even lightning a few times. They even looked outside at the beach and saw that the lake was a mess of fierce white-cap waves.

Once the fire was dim and the food was gone, they realized how late it was. Will, Emma and Sue bid their goodnights and carefully dashed outside and to the bunkhouse.

"I don't want to move. I'm warm now" Sugar said.

But they got up anyways and put on their pyjamas.

"Tina? What are you doing?" Mike asked. Several of their friends were already asleep but Tina was standing by the window with a scared expression. Mike walked over

"Look at the trees" Tina whispered and pointed up. "They seem to be swaying dangerously."

Mike looked up and saw the tops of the trees. The wind was making them shake a lot.

"D-do you think they'll fall?" Tina asked and Mike could hear the worry in her voice.

He put his arms around her. "Unlikely" he said and kissed her cheek.

"What if one does?" she asked, not taking her eyes off the tree tops.

"It won't."

"We'll die."

"We'll be fine."

"It'll crush the cottage" Tina whispered.

"Tina! Stop worrying. We'll be fine. If the tree was that dangerous, it would have been cut down a long time ago. I doubt this is the worst wind Victoria Beach has seen" Mike said, turning her around so he could face her and so she wouldn't see the trees. "And anyways, I'll protect you, make no mistake."

Tina smiled. "Alright."

"Now let the wind lull you to sleep" Mike said, leading her to her sleeping bag and kissing her goodnight.

"I love you" she said.

"I love you too" Mike replied.

"Blaine!" Kurt whispered and poked Blaine's shoulder gently. "Blaine are you awake?"

"Yeah" Blaine nodded, though his eyes were closed.

"I'm sorry to wake you, but are you wearing your grey sweater?" Kurt whispered.

"Not anymore" Blaine said. "It's on the chair we sat in by the fire. Why?"

"I want to wear it. I'm freezing and can't sleep. I didn't bring many sweaters that provide warmth" Kurt said. "I didn't think it'd be this cold, even if it is Canada."

Blaine opened his eyes. "This sleeping bag can fit us both, if you want maximum heat."

Kurt considered it then looked around to make sure no one was watching. They'd all, Santana especially, make a big deal about it. When he was sure they were all asleep, he crawled out of his sleeping bag and slipped into Blaine's. It was a bit snug so there wasn't much room to move around, but it was much warmer. Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt.

"Goodnight" Blaine whispered, his eyes closed again.

"Thank you. And goodnight, my love" Kurt whispered. He fell asleep fast and soon, like the others, he didn't hear the thunder, rain and wind continue on.

* * *

**A/N**

**Take it from me, VB storms are scary stuff. One year, the storm went on for like three days. Let's just say I played more Monopoly than most people play in five years. But I tried to make it seem fun for the ND gang. Hope you liked it. **

**Anyways, next chapter (maybe two if I decide to split it up) are going to be big, interesting, dramatic and shocking. I've already started writing. Next chapter(s) is what the past few chapters have been leading up to. That's all I'm going to say. ;)**

**See you soon, hopefully! Love you and thanks to my reviewers!**


	26. Chapter 26

Rachel awoke to up to the sound of quick tapping. As if someone was at the door. Or doing an impressive tap dance routine, but that was unlikely because no one in the cottage had half as much talent as she did. Sure enough, when she rolled over to face the door, someone was there.

It was Meredith. Rachel gave her a small wave to let her know she noticed her then glanced at the clock. It wasn't even eight. What was Meredith doing here so early? Just as Rachel yawned, she noticed Meredith using the sleeve of her red sweater to wipe her eyes and Rachel realized that she was crying. Rachel quickly unravelled herself from her pink sleeping bag and jumped up. She tried to leap over her friends, who were still asleep in a mess on a floor, but she ended up tripping over Joe.

"Ow!" Joe grunted, as Rachel's knee hit his shoulder.

"Sorry!" Rachel whispered but didn't turn around. She ran to the door and unlocked it.

The sky was still a gloomy grey and the trees still swayed. The ground was still wet and water drops fell each time a tree branch moved.

"Meredith!" Rachel said, when she opened the door. She was greeted by a cold breeze.

Meredith's face was red and puffy and her eyes were swimming with tears. Her hair was a half-combed mess and her breaths were heavy. She looked awful.

"Sorry to b-bother you" Meredith said quietly. She sniffed. "B-but I need your help."

"What's wrong?" Rachel asked, very concerned.

Meredith's lip quivered. "It's Andy...he's gone."

"Gone? What?" Rachel gasped.

"He ran away" Meredith quietly said. "I need your help, please."

Rachel nodded, unable to make words. She stepped aside to let Meredith in.

Rachel walked over to the group of her sleeping friends. Joe was only half awake and was blinking slowly. Rachel started shaking them and even kicking a few of them.

"Wake up! Guys! Wake up!" she said loudly.

Joe was more awake and woke Quinn up by shaking her shoulder.

"Guys! Now!" Rachel demanded, forcefully shaking Puck.

"What's the deal?" Santana demanded, sitting up.

"Look how early it is!" Merecedes gasped.

"Oh, hey, Meredith" Tina said, noticing Meredith standing by the door. She saw the tear stains on her face. "What's wrong?"

Rachel jumped in and spoke for Meredith. "Meredith needs our help. Andy ran away."

"He what?" Finn asked.

"Ran away" Rachel said, answering for her again.

"Where?" Sugar asked.

"You think if she knew, she'd be here?" Puck asked in a rude tone.

"Sor-ry" Sugar frowned at him.

"Guys, this isn't helping" Kurt said, glancing at Meredith, who was still crying and looking out the window every once and a while.

"Here, Meredith, sit down and tell us how we can help" Mercedes said. Meredith tentatively sat on the edge of the rocking chair and took a deep breath.

"I have to find him. I need your help to find him" Meredith said, on the verge of total waterworks. "I have no idea where he would have gone at all."

"Of course we'll help" Sam said promptly. "I have two little siblings and I know that if they ever ran away, I'd reply on these people to help."

"You don't have to answer this if you're uncomfortable, but why did he run away?" Blaine asked.

Meredith sighed. "Andy is...sensitive. This morning before Mom left for Winnipeg, she was telling me how she'll be late coming home tonight because she's getting a drink with this guy from her work. This is big for her because she hasn't seen someone since Rod. I guess Andy overheard this and got upset. He started saying stuff like this guy is only gonna come into our life and hurt us and that Mom doesn't care about us. Then he just jumped up and ran out of the cottage. He got on his bike and rode away. I wasn't fully dressed so by the time I got my sweater and jeans on, he was long gone. Mom called into work and said she couldn't come in. She's staying home in case he comes back and is calling people we know here. I went down to the beach, but I couldn't find him and I went into the bushes across the road because a few times we've picked wild berries there, but he wasn't there."

"That's awful!" Quinn said.

Meredith nodded miserably. "Andy has never been out by himself here."

"But he knows his way around" Finn said. "He won't get lost."

"Yeah but the thing with Andy is that he won't just go somewhere public and walk around. He'd go somewhere ridiculous to hide from everybody" Meredith told them.

"This has happened before?" Rachel asked.

"Twice, but not here in Victoria Beach. It was at our house. The first time he ran, we found him in the alley way behind the library with this hobo. The hobo was really nice and watched over him and stuff, so that was okay, I guess. The second time, he was on the roof of this apartment building that Rod used to live in before he moved in with us."

"Maybe he climbed a tree?" Rory suggested. "Mike did that a few days ago."

Meredith sniffed. "It's a possibility. But there are a ton of trees here. That's why I need your help. We can split up and search the area."

"Sure" Finn nodded.

Meredith gave a watery smile. "Thanks a bunch, you guys. Um, I'm gonna check in home to see if Mom's heard anything and you guys can put on real clothes or whatever."

"No problem" Sam said. "That's what friends are for."

The door opened and Mr. Schuester walked in.

"What're you guys doing up so early?" he asked, seeing them all sitting up. "Oh, hello Meredith. How are you? Wild storm last night, huh?"

Meredith nodded slowly.

Will noticed the grim expression on everyone's faces. "What's wrong?"

"Andy ran away" Mercedes piped up. "We're gonna help find him."

"He ran away? Why?" Will gasped.

"It's a long story" Mike said. "We'll explain it to you. Meredith has to go."

"I'll be back in ten minutes" Meredith told them, standing up.

"How can I help?" Will asked her as she walked to the door.

"Stay here" Meredith told him. "He may come by here, I don't know."

Will nodded. "Sure. Don't worry, we'll find him."

"I hope so."

When Meredith left, the teens all hurried to change into their clothes and eat something. After rapidly throwing on shorts and a T-shirt and eating a handful or two of dry cereal or a slice of bread, they were ready.

"I wish we had our cellphones" Puck said, tying up his shoe laces. "That'd make it so much easier."

"Agreed, but the charges would have been crazy expensive" Blaine said.

Meredith returned ten minutes later, like she said. She handed Will a piece of paper. "Here's my cellphone number and our cottage number so you can call me or my mom."

Will nodded. "I'll keep my eyes open."

"Thanks" Meredith nodded at him.

They all went outside.

"Okay, well, let's split up" Rachel said.

They arranged themselves into pairs. Rachel and Kurt, Rory and Finn, Puck and Artie, Joe and Sam, Tina and Quinn, Mercedes and Santana, Sugar and Brittany, and Mike and Blaine.

"Are you going by yourself?" Artie asked Meredith.

Meredith shrugged. "I don't care."

"Come with Joe and I" Sam offered.

"Alright" Meredith gave a half smile. "Um, okay, so who's going where?"

"Kurt and I will go down to the beach" Rachel said.

"Quinn and I will walk down this way" Tina pointed to the left of the cottage.

"Blaine and I will ride down to the parking lot" Mike said.

"And the golf course" Blaine added. "It's near there."

"Puck and I will go to Town and look through the stores and stuff" Artie said.

"Rory and I will go through the streets between here and Town" Finn said. "Maybe he is lost."

"Okay, but just make sure you two don't get lost" Quinn said. "Then we'll be searching for three people."

"We'll be careful" Rory said. "I have an excellent sense of direction."

"Santana and I will also go to Town, I guess" Mercedes said. "We'll look around in the trees nearby and stuff."

"We'll look in the trees too!" Sugar said. "Brittany and I will."

"Don't get poison ivy" Kurt said.

"I don't like poison" Brittany said.

"Where will we go?" Sam asked Joe and Meredith. "There's no where else?"

Joe snapped his fingers. "The clubhouse!"

"Oh yeah!" Sam smiled.

"Okay we'll go to the clubhouse and the pier, while we're there" Meredith said.

"So that's all sorted out" Quinn said. "Meet back here in an hour, I guess."

"Great" Blaine said. "Good luck, everyone."

"Seriously you guys, thank you so much for helping me" Meredith said, starting to cry again.

"Don't worry, we'll find him" Kurt reassured her.

Brittany hugged her. "It'll be okay."

And with that, they split up and went to their designated location.

* * *

Emma yawned as she walked across the porch from the bunkhouse to the cottage. She slid open the door and stepped inside, escaping the cold wind and dark skies. Will peeked over from the kitchen.

"Morning" he greeted.

Emma smiled. "Good morning. Did you sleep well? The storm kept me up for a while, but I finally dozed off." She yawned again then noticed that the mess of wrinkled sleeping bags in the middle of the floor were empty. "Hey, where are the kids?"

Will sighed. "They left already. Their little friend Meredith came over in tears because her brother Andy, that quiet kid, ran away. The kids said that their mom was getting kinda close to a new guy and he got upset. They've kinda had bad luck when it comes to fatherly figures. So he ran away and the kids are out trying to find him."

"Aw, that's awful!" Emma said sadly. "I hope the poor kid's alright."

"I know. And Meredith was so upset" Will said. "She seems really close to him."

Emma stared out the window as if she expected Andy or one of the kids to come strolling onto the lawn.

Will went and hugged Emma. He could see she was upset about this news.

"Don't worry" he said. "It'll all be okay. We can count on the kids to save the day."

Emma sighed. "Or so we hope. Who knows where the kid has gone?"

* * *

**A/N**

**I know this is short but if I added everything I'm planning, the chapter would be super long and I wouldn't be finished it yet. So in order to meet my weekly goals, you can read this now :)**

**And I'll work my hardest to get the next chapter up by next week. It's exam season so...**

**But what do you think of Meredith's situation? :S**

**So see you around!**

**Oh! I just got Twitter less than a week ago. If any of you want to follow me and forever be in my heart, please do so! My handle is AVeryMagicGleek so follow me, okay? (insert heart here) **


	27. Chapter 27

"See him?" Blaine asked Mike as they rode towards the large parking lot.

"No" Mike answered. "Let's park our bikes and poke around."

"You don't think he hid in someone's car, do you?" Blaine asked nervously, looking at the many cars.

Mike gulped. "Maybe. Based on what Meredith said, it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities."

"Okay well I guess we're gonna have to look in every car" Blaine said. "You start on this side and I'll start on the far side."

Blaine and Mike ran up the rows of cars, peeping through every car window for Andy.

Blaine even started bending down and looking under all the cars just in case he was under there.

"Any luck?" Blaine asked, meeting Mike ten minutes later.

"No" Mike sighed. "You're all dusty."

Blaine looked down at his green pants, which were covered in brown dirt.

"Aw, shoot. I guess when I was looking through the windows, I leaned against the car. Some of the ones at the back don't seem to get out much."

Mike chuckled. "You're telling me! I saw some lovely choice words written in the dust on some cars."

Blaine brushed the dirt of himself. "Okay so he's not in any cars. Do you think he went on the highway and out of Victoria Beach?"

Mike considered it. "Maybe. I think I saw a fire station when we drove in."

"Let's go and see then we'll hit the golf course" Blaine said.

They rode under the large Victoria Beach sign and down the highway. They soon came to a small fire station.

"I'll go inside. You look around here and behind the building" Mike said.

Mike came out of the fire station a few minutes later without a smile and Blaine knew that he had no luck.

"I even asked a fireman inside and he said he hasn't seen him" Mike said.

"To the golf course, then" Blaine sighed and got back on his bike. "Onwards!"

They rode back down the road and soon arrived at the golf course. It wasn't very busy at all due to the fact that it was eight thirty and the sky was threatening rain.

"Let's just go ask the dude at the desk" Mike said. He walked up to a wooden desk where a stumpy man sat, playing suduko. "Um, hello, have you seen a young boy, about this tall with long-ish dark hair?"

"Within the last hour?" Blaine added.

The man shook his head. "Nope, sorry."

"Are you sure?" Blaine persisted.

"Quite" the man said.

"Thanks" Mike glumly said and the two of them walked back to their bikes.

"How are we doing on time?" Blaine asked.

"We regroup in fifteen minutes" Mike said. "Let's head back."

* * *

"Is there anything attractive down this way?" Tina asked as she and Quinn walked in the opposite direction of Town.

"Doubt it" Quinn said. "But that may be why it's a perfect place to run away to."

They had been slowly walking down the road for some time now, keeping their eyes peeled for any sign of Andy. But so far they hadn't seen anything. The only thing they've got were shivers, as it was still very cool. Quinn, who wasn't a fan of big, bulky sweaters, was hugging herself and trying to keep warm.

"Did you ever run away when you were little?" Tina asked.

"No. But my sister did. She got a detention at school and was so ashamed so she ran away so she wouldn't have to face Mom and Dad" Quinn said.

"Where did she go?" Tina questioned.

"To my grandmother's house ten blocks away. My grandmother assumed she was there for a visit so she made her dinner and stuff" Quinn rolled her eyes. "My parents were worried sick but I was glad my sister was gone. I got my own room for like four hours!"

Tina laughed. "I'm an only child. But I've never run away, either."

"I've been kicked out of my home, though" Quinn said, a bit sourly. "That's even worse because it's usually when you're at your weakest."

Tina patted Quinn's arm. "You're strong, Quinn."

"Thanks."

Tina nodded. "I feel bad for Meredith, though. She's beside herself with worry."

"Yeah but I also feel bad for Andy. Their step-dad died from the car crash and Andy was there. I know what car crashes are like; it's traumatizing. Poor kid..." Quinn said.

"Well, I'm sure we'll find him" Tina said firmly. "

"Yup" Quinn said. "Hey, look!" Quinn pointed to a bike that was in the bushes.

"Do you think it's Andy's?" Tina wondered.

"Could be" Quinn said slowly. She grabbed it and stood it up so she could pull it out into full view.

"It's not" Tina declared when she saw it fully.

"What makes you say that?" Quinn asked.

Tina pointed to the metal on the wheels. "The metal here is really rusty, which means that it's been here a while."

"It still could be Andy's" Quinn said.

"Plus, there are spiderwebs on the handles. No one would ride it with spider webs all over" Tina added.

"Hmmm I guess you're right" Quinn said, pushing the bike back in the bushes.

"Should we keep walking? We've gone pretty far already and we said we'd all meet up in an hour" Tina glanced down the empty road.

"How long has it been?" Quinn asked.

"I don't have a watch."

"Neither do I" Quinn smiled.

"Okay well then let's head back now then and hope we aren't too late" Tina turned.

"Wait!" Quinn said. She turned to face the direction they were heading. "ANDY!" she yelled.

"Quinn! People are trying to sleep!" Tina said.

"Shush!" Quinn hushed her.

They waited for a moment for any response.

"Alright, let's go" Quinn sighed as they walked back to the cottage.

* * *

"What on earth took you ten minutes in a store that can only hold ten people?" Artie asked as Puck came strolling out of the Bakery.

"Bro chillax, I was flirting with the girl who was working in there" Puck said. "But she wouldn't give me any free samples so I left."

Artie rolled his eyes. "Puck! We're trying to find a missing boy!"

"Okay sorry" Puck sighed. "Next time I'll speed it up."

"Next time I'll be there to monitor because the store has a ramp" Artie said, wheeling down the road towards the store.

They went into the small convenience store. They weren't the only ones in there. There was a larger woman looking at the array of greeting cards and an old man buying milk.

"I don't see him" Puck said, looking around the store quickly.

Artie sighed. "Alright, let's go."

"Wait. I wanna buy some candy" Puck said, digging in his pocket for some change.

"Do you really need candy when it's..." Artie looked at his watch. "...not even nine in the morning."

"Bro I had like two bites of bread this morning. I'm dying here. Plus, I work better with the sugar rush. Which is why I usually drink a few energy drinks before school every day" Puck said, putting candy into a bag.

"Do you know how much sugar are in those things?" Artie asked, disgusted.

"Probably a lot" Puck shrugged.

"That's so unhealthy" Artie stated as Puck went and paid for the candy.

"My abs beg to differ" Puck said as they left the store and shoved a handful of jelly beans into his mouth.

"Okay let's go to Moonlight Inn and search in there" Artie said, wheeling across the large stretch of grass.

"Is it even open?" Puck asked.

"We'll see" Artie said.

They got closer to the building. It looked a lot less attractive without the sun shining and people's bikes parked all around. But now, the sun was hiding behind dark clouds and it was too early for large crowds, so the building looked empty and abandoned.

"It's open!" Artie said. "And look, they serve breakfast here!"

"We should get some!" Puck excitedly said.

"No! We have to meet up with the gang" Artie said.

Puck sighed and held the door for Artie. "Okay so I'll look upstairs and you tackle downstairs?"

"Obviously" Artie said in his best Severus Snape impression.

Puck patted Artie on the shoulder and hurried up the stairs. Artie saw him reappear on the upper level. Artie rolled around and checked under all the booth tables and behind the bar counter.

"Can I help you?" an older woman with an apron asked. It wasn't a rude tone she used, it was just a question.

"Um...we're looking for a boy. He's thirteen with sloppy dark hair" Artie said.

"Playing Hide and Seek, eh?" the lady chuckled.

"Um, no. He ran away" Artie said quietly.

The lady's smile faded. "Oh, is he your brother?"

"A friend."

"Oh. Well, I'll keep my eyes open."

"Thanks" Artie said with a nod.

"I also checked the bathroom, dude" Puck said, coming down the stairs. "He's not here."

"Okay well we should go back to the cottage now" Artie said. He waved goodbye to the lady as he and Puck left Moonlight Inn.

* * *

Kurt threw a rock into the water.

"Do you think he can swim?" Rachel asked, watching Kurt's rock make a small splash in the water.

The water was still rough and waves crashed on to the shore so much that water consumed several feet of beach that was all sand a few days ago.

"I'm sure he can" Kurt said. "They practically live here all summer."

Kurt bend down and picked up a small, coin sized shell and put it in his pocket.

"Why did you steal that shell?" Rachel asked.

"It's not stealing. And I'm gonna use them as buttons on a jacket I'm making" Kurt said.

"Neat" Rachel smiled. "But why can't you just buy some at the craft store?"

"This is the real McCoy" Kurt said, soundly slightly offended.

Rachel sighed. "Do you think Andy went into the water?"

Kurt stared out at the waves. "I think he'd have more common sense than that."

"I guess" Rachel said. "I'm just really worried. He's just a little boy."

"He's thirteen" Kurt said. "Plus, Meredith said he rode his bike somewhere so it's really unlikely he rode his bike to the beach when it's right behind his cottage."

"True" Rachel nodded. "You'd make a good detective, you know."

Kurt snickered. "I'd only be a detective so I could wear a fedora and snazzy jacket."

"Speaking of jacket" Rachel said. "I wish I brought mine."

"It is chilly" Kurt said. "I'm wearing Blaine's sweater."

"Ohmygosh that is so adorable" Rachel cooed. "You two are so cute."

"Yeah I know" Kurt grinned and blushed. "We are."

They walked for a bit longer down the damp sand. Rachel kept looking out to the water and when Kurt wasn't looking for shells, he stared up at the top of the sandbanks. After a while they walked as far as they could. The sand became large boulders and they snaked around a corner.

"We should turn back" Rachel said.

"No, I'm gonna climb over some of the rocks. Maybe Andy is back here" Kurt said.

"Are you serious? The rocks are slippery from the waves, it's windy and you're not wearing safe footwear. Kurt, I can't let you do that" Rachel said frantically.

"I'll be careful" Kurt said. He slowly got up on the closest rock and carefully walked to the next one. Rachel watched from behind her hands and gasped every time he took another step.

"Kurt! Come back down!"

Kurt ignored her and moved to the next boulder. When he decided he was far enough and the next rock was too much of a risk, he paused. "ANDY?" he yelled. The only sound was waves harshly crashing on the rocks.

"Kurt, he's not here. Come back. What if you fall and break your leg? You won't be able to walk and what if they have to amputate it? You can't dance with one leg! Broadway needs dancers! Kurt, your whole career is on the line here!"

"Okay I'm coming back down" Kurt said, turning around and slowly but surely making his way back. He bopped down to the sand and they turned to walk back along the beach to the cottage.

* * *

"Um, bro, are we lost?" Finn asked, staring at a tree and trying to remember if he's seen it before.

"No" Rory said.

"Are you sure?" Finn asked.

"One hundred percent" Rory said. "I told you, I have great navigational skills."

"Same. But only if I have a map. Or like in a video game when the little arrow tells me if I'm going in the wrong direction" Finn said and yawned.

"We turned left at the last fork" Rory said.

"Okay" Finn said. "So...um...you have siblings, right?"

"Sibling" Rory corrected. "I have one brother. His name is Seamus."

"Cool. How old is he?" Finn asked.

"Ten" Rory answered. "But he acts like he's six."

"How so?"

"He's always saying dumb things and acting out. He's a little attention seeker" Rory said.

Finn laughed. "He must be fun to have around."

Rory smiled. "Yeah. Mum gets fed up because I keep laughing."

"It must be sick to have a little brother. You know, someone who looks up to you and would do anything to hang with you" Finn said. "I'm an only child and my mom would so obviously rather a girl."

"Oh same with my mum" Rory said. "Mum tells us all the time to act more dignified and to stop obsessing over dirty sports."

Finn laughed. "Your mom and my mom could be best friends."

"Yeah. And having a little brother is the pits, just so you know. He always hangs around me and follows me and think's he's cool."

"Yeah, but isn't it great to have a kid to always play catch with you outside or something?"

"I suppose... Maybe if Seamus wasn't such a dork."

"Well, he's still your brother" Finn said.

"Yup. And I still miss him...and my parents" Rory said.

"You'll see them soon" Finn kicked a rock into a muddy puddle. "Okay, are you sure we're not lost?"

"Aye. I know exactly where we are in relation to the road we take. But there's no sign of Andy... I wonder where he is."

"Maybe the others have found him" Finn said. "Speaking of which, when are we supposed to meet up with everyone?"

"After an hour" Rory said.

"It's been forty three minutes" Finn said, looking at his watch.

Rory sighed and stopped walking. "Alright, let's head back then."

* * *

"Hey, is that Puck and Artie?" Mercedes asked, staring across the park.

"Who cares?" Santana replied.

"Just wondering" Mercedes said quietly. "See him?"

"If I did, I'd say something" Santana said. "Duh."

"Girl, why are you so snappy today?" Mercedes asked.

"I'm tired" Santana told her. "And I'm snappy when I'm tired."

"Aw poor baby" Mercedes joked.

"It's not funny" Santana glared at her. "Just go look over there or something."

Mercedes didn't reply and instead, walking through the trees, alternating her gaze from up in the trees to look for Andy to down on the ground to avoid poison ivy.

"Andy?" Santana called. "Andy?"

"Andy?" Mercedes echoed.

"I don't think he's here" Santana said.

Mercedes nodded. She picked up a dead branch from a tree and used it as a walking stick.

"Let's get out of these bushes and go check around the park" Santana said.

"Okay" Mercedes nodded and they pushed their way through the trees to the opening and out into the park.

Santana climbed up on top of the playground equipment and looked around the park. "Meredith didn't tell us what he was wearing. How are we supposed to find him?"

"Cut her some slack" Mercedes said, whacking the branch on a pole so it snapped loudly. "She wasn't exactly in a great state of mind."

Santana shrugged. "I'm just saying."

The two girls made a lap of the park, stopping at every tree to see if the missing boy climbed up. Then they went back to the forestry and continued to look in there. They ended up covered in water from dripping trees thanks to last night's rain and Santana's sweater got a small rip in it from catching on a tree. Mercedes has a leaf in her hair and they both had mud on their feet.

"I have come to the conclusion that Andy is not here" Mercedes sighed. She looked at her bedazzled watch. "And we have to go now and meet the gang."

"Hopefully they found him because I am not going back in the trees" Santana said, shaking drops of water off her arm.

* * *

"And then Lord Tubbington went into my sisters room and stole her diary and we read it all in one night. It was all about how she had a crush on someone named Gary, which is funny because Lord Tubbington has a crush on Spongebob's snail-cat who is also named Gary. And that's why I think my sister has a crush on a cat" Brittany said and finally took a breath.

Sugar made a face. "Your cat sounds weird."

"He is" Brittany agreed and looked up a tree.

"Anyways, my half birthday is coming up" Sugar said, flipping her hair. "I can't decide between a Hawaiian theme or a fairy princess theme. Daddy says the candy theme, which I originally wanted, is overdone."

"You should do a Canada theme. And in the gift bag, you give everyone their own Canadian mountie!" Brittany said.

"How much would that cost?" Sugar asked, pulling off a leaf from a low branch.

"I don't know" Brittany shrugged.

"What was that sound?" Sugar asked, hearing a twig snap.

The girls paused and listened.

"Maybe a squirrel or like a polar bear?" Brittany suggested.

"Maybe it's Andy. ANDY?" Sugar called loudly.

Brittany looked up. "He's not in the trees."

"Andy?" Sugar called again, dragging out the last letter in his name longer than it should be dragged out.

When they heard no reply, Brittany sighed. "This is like finding a needle in a haystack."

Sugar nodded, then she shrieked. "Look at this! Look at my pants! Ugh!" Sugar's white jeans were splatted in brown mud on the sides.

"Cool is that cow print?" Brittany smiled.

"No!" Sugar wailed. "I must have leaned on a tree or something! Ugh, so gross! I hope we have another fire tonight because I will burn these."

"I'm sure someone can get the stain out. We've gotten slushie stains out of a lot of things. Ask Kurt. He'll know" Brittany said calmly as Sugar gaped in horror at her pants.

"Come on, Brittany. We are getting away from these gross trees. We've done our looking and he is clearly not here" Sugar stormed out of the trees. Brittany followed her.

"Well what time is it?" Brittany said. "We have to meet the others soon, right?"

Sugar looked at her small, designer watch. "Yeah. We're a bit early, but I want to change out of these horrid pants so let's go back now."

* * *

Sam, Joe and Meredith parked their bikes and walked to the clubhouse. The bike racks out front were empty except for their three bikes.

Meredith was a mess the whole ride. She had to keep wiping her eyes with her sleeve so she could see straight. Sam and Joe kept looking back to make sure she was okay and reassuring her that they'd find him.

"It's locked" Sam said, trying to open the doors of the clubhouse, only to find it's locked.

"So Andy couldn't have got in" Joe concluded.

Meredith shook her head. "Follow me." She walked around to the side of the clubhouse where they found another door. Meredith turned the knob, but it didn't open either.

"Is there another door, perhaps?" Joe asked.

"No" Meredith said. She peered through the dirty windows.

"See him?" Sam asked, doing the same.

Joe pulled a few fishflies off the window and tried to peer in as well.

"Looks all dark to me" Meredith said. "Besides, Andy isn't a fan of darkness."

"Okay then" Joe said.

"Let's check the beach" Sam said, staring at a small beach behind the clubhouse.

Meredith nodded and sighed sadly. They walked to the beach. It was just like the one by their cottage except there were no large sand banks and the sand wasn't as soft.

"ANDY?" Meredith cupped her mouth with her hands and yelled.

Sam walked down in one direction and Joe walked in the other.

"See him?" Sam called back to the others.

"No. You?" Joe called to Meredith.

"No. Let's move on. We have a lot of ground to cover" Meredith said, turning swiftly on her heels and marching back to the front of the clubhouse. Joe and Sam quickly followed.

"Just leave the bikes. We'll walk down to the pier" Meredith said and started down the road.

"Meredith, I think you should calm down" Joe said slowly. Sam quickly nodded.

Meredith turned to face them. Her eyes were swimming with tears and she looked like she wanted to be mad, but couldn't. "Sorry, guys. I'm just really worried and scared and who knows where he is? It's a dangerous world and he may be hurt or something."

"We get it" Joe said.

"Yeah I have two little siblings and they mean the world to me. I'm practically homeless and there were some days when I wondered how we'll make it" Sam told her. "Just keep calm and it'll all be okay. You have sixteen cool people helping you and Andy's a smart dude. It'll be okay."

Meredith nodded, wiped her eyes and cheeks, and took a deep breath. "You're right. You're right. Calm...it's okay. Thanks."

They walked in silence for a few moments. Meredith had calmed down and her strides weren't as long or fast. They all kept their eyes open.

"Hey! Check it out! A fallen tree!" Joe said, pointing to a huge tree that had fallen and lay across the road ahead of them.

"The storm must have made it fall" Sam said. Then he noticed something red near it. "What's that?"

Suddenly Meredith stopped walking. She stared ahead at the tree and the red thing. Then she swore loudly and began running towards the tree.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked as he and Joe raced after her. Meredith was in tears again when she got to the tree. The red thing was a bike, carelessly tossed aside.

"That's Andy's bike!" Meredith said and climbed over the tree so she could continue on the road toward the pier. Sam and Joe hurried after her.

Meredith kept running until she got to the end of the pier where New Direction went fishing only the day before.

"ANDY!" Meredith yelled out to the rough waters.

"Do you think he jumped?" Sam asked quietly to Joe.

Meredith suddenly gasped. Joe and Sam turned to her. She was ghostly pale and was facing the dock where small boats were tethered.

"Andy took the boat."

* * *

**A/N**

**Oooh suspense! This chapter was fun to write because the characters bonded a bit, which is why I didn't pair them up based on relationships. So I hope you liked it. I'll try and finish the next chapter by next week. :) **

**Thanks to all my loyal readers who I love very much.**

**gleerificnewsstop{dot}wordpress{dot}com**

** AVeryMagicGleek on Twitter **


	28. Chapter 28

Both boys were frozen in shock. Meredith simply stared at the spot where the boat used to be.

Sam glanced over and saw Joe's lips quickly moving but he wasn't speaking; he was sure he was praying.

Finally Meredith turned around, her face streaked with tears and her eyes cold.

"Does he know how to drive the boat?" Sam asked gently.

Meredith nodded. "We both got our licences a few years ago."

"Well at least there's that" Sam said, trying to offer some support.

Meredith shook her head and walked past Sam and Joe. "Come on. Let's go back."

She led the way back down the pier and towards the clubhouse. Sam and Joe hung back a bit so they could talk.

"She's oddly calm" Sam whispered. "Don't you think?"

"She's just repressing her fears and worries" Joe said quietly. "Look at the water. It's a mess of waves. It's not safe"

Sam glanced over his shoulder at the water. Joe was right. There were white caps and once and a while, water would splash up over the pier.

"But Meredith said Andy got his license so..." Sam said.

"Sorry but a certificate has nothing on Mother Nature" Joe said and they sped up to catch up with Meredith. She was already getting on her bike.

Sam and Joe did the same and the three of them rode along the road.

* * *

They were the last to arrive back at the cottage.

Everyone else was there, discussing how they all had came to the same result: no Andy.

"We all covered a large part of Victoria Beach" Quinn said. "Where on earth can he be?"

"Who knows?" Finn shrugged. "I bet it'll be a really obvious place too."

"Maybe. He is- hey, look, here comes Joe, Sam and Meredith" Kurt said and they all looked over as the three of them rode into the lot.

"Any luck?" Rachel asked.

"Actually, yes" Sam nodded.

They all began to speak at once, asking questions of where and how and is he here.

Meredith stood by quietly, obviously unsure how to settle the large group.

Finally, they stopped talking so someone could explain.

"Andy took the boat" Meredith announced

Several of them gasped but they were all wise enough to refrain from a bombard of questions.

"We went down to the pier and the boat was gone. Now that I think about it, Andy did have the boat keys in his pocket yesterday so I guess he forgot to take them out and that's how he had the keys" Meredith explained.

They were silent for a moment before Mercedes spoke up.

"Any ideas of where he might have gone?"

"Maybe he went as far as he could go" Puck suggested. "What's across the lake?"

"Winnipeg" Meredith answered him. "But Andy would never do that. It's a bit ridiculous."

"May I say something?" Kurt asked. Everyone looked to him. "I was thinking. Meredith, you said that Andy has run away twice. The first time it was in an alley behind the library and the second time it was on the rooftop of your stepdad's apartment. Well, I was thinking that they're not just random spots. He chose the library because he likes to read and to escape into books. And he chose the roof of the apartment because he obviously liked your stepdad and felt comfort at that building. He had reasons for his hideouts, is what I'm saying. So we have to think logically. What areas, accessible by boat, may Andy have a connection to?"

"Brilliant" Blaine breathed in awe.

"Genius" Tina nodded.

"I told you! I told you that you'd be a good detective" Rachel excitedly said.

Even Meredith seemed shocked. "I never really thought that deep into it."

Santana cleared her throat. "Um, I hate to be the pessimist here, but maybe it's all just a coincidence."

"Andy's smart" Meredith said. "I wouldn't put it past him."

"Did anyone else feel a raindrop?" Sugar asked.

"Me. I did" Brittany said.

"So, Meredith, any ideas of where he could be? We have no ideas" Mike asked.

"Oh, hey guys!" Will said, coming outside. He stepped out onto the porch. "Hmm, starting to rain again? Anyways, how'd the search go? Any luck? Meredith, I kept my eyes open but I never saw him."

"Andy took the boat" Sam said to him. "We don't know more than that."

"Really?" Will gasped. "Is that safe? Or legal?"

"He has his license" Sugar piped up. "Anyways, if we're gonna go look for him, can we do it soon? I don't want to be caught in the rain again. Because certain members of the group start to smell like dog. I'm looking at you, Puckerman."

"Hey!" Puck frowned.

"Elk!" Meredith suddenly gasped.

"Say what?" Mercedes asked.

"Elk Island!" Meredith said. "Andy is at Elk Island! I just know it!"

"Where is that?" Blaine asked, moving to stand under a tree to avoid the rain that was picking up.

"Nearby! A few times we were able to walk there! Come on!" Meredith turned and ran out onto the road and down the road in the opposite direction of Town.

"Walk? To an island?" Rachel asked. "That's not possible."

"Just come!" Rory said as the teens followed after Meredith.

"Be safe!" Will called after them.

* * *

The beach was cold, wet, windy and understandably empty. They had followed Meredith down the road for a while. The road, which was now muddy and wet, seemed to never end, but finally, Meredith turned left and went on to a little path leading towards the beach. To the right, out in the water was an island. It was large enough for ten houses to fit on comfortably, but it was instead covered in tall pine trees.

"ANDY!" Finn yelled.

"Be quiet. He'd never be able to hear you. The wind is too strong and the waves are too loud. Plus, it's kinda far out" Puck said.

"Now what? Incase you haven't realized, we don't have a boat" Santana crossed her arms but only she could tell of it was for warmth or she was just being sassy.

"Yeah but we can't ju- Meredith, what are you doing?" Kurt asked.

Meredith was kicking off her muddy running shoes and pulling off her sweater, leaving them in a heap on the wet sand.

"You're not planning on going in the water, are you?" Tina asked dangerously.

"I am" Meredith said shortly.

"But that's so dangerous. Be reasonable. You can't swim out to there" Tina hurried along side her as she walked closer to the water.

"You'll catch pneumonia!" Quinn added. "This isn't a good idea."

"I'm not asking any of you to come, now am I? I'm swimming to the island and I'm going to find Andy."

"Good luck" Brittany chimed.

They knew they'd never be able to convince her otherwise so they stood watching her slowly make her way into the water. She went agonizingly slowly until she got to her waist. The she dived in fully. Kurt shivered just watching her. They watched Meredith's head bob up in the waves. Then she slowly tried to swim towards the island. It was only about a hundred meters out, but the waves made it very hard to swim in as they kept pushing Meredith back towards shore.

"I can't even watch this" Mercedes groaned and closed her eyes.

"This is so unsafe. She could drown!" Quinn exclaimed.

Out in the water, Meredith flailed around, trying to get control of herself in the water. Finally, she managed to get steady and swim forward a bit. But every time she seemed to move forward, a large wave would come and splash right over her, pushing her back. Finally, Meredith decided that she's have to go under water again to avoid the waves. They all watched her head disappear under the water.

"Anyone see her? Is she up yet?" Tina asked.

"No, I don't see her. Oh, wait, yeah, there she is" Rachel pointed to where the brown head of hair reappeared on the surface.

By going under water, she managed to move forward toward Elk Island. After ten agonizing minutes for New Directions, Meredith finally reached the shore of Elk Island. She dragged herself out of the water and gave a quick wave to New Directions to signal that she was okay.

Meredith looked about as tall as a doll from where they stood on the beach.

"She's got nerve" Puck said as they watched her disappear into he trees on the island.

"Do you think there are bears on that island?" Brittany asked.

"Unlikely" Rachel said. "It is an island, after all."

"But she said she could walk there a few times" Kurt reminded them.

"How?" Rachel asked. "The whole point of an island is that it's surrounded by water."

"My guess is the water level sometimes goes down and there's probably a big sandbar out there so they can walk" Blaine said. "It seems logical."

"Does anyone think Andy is really on that island?" Finn asked.

"I don't know. Meredith was pretty convinced that he is" Sam said.

"But it's kinda far from the pier" Joe added.

"I wish we brought an umbrella" Sugar sighed. It was still steadily raining and by now, everyone was pretty much soaked.

* * *

They stood around for a while waiting for Meredith to reappear in the trees. They were all soaking wet from the thick rain and they were all shivering from that and the wind. It was a miserable day both weather wise and emotionally.

"Is that Meredith?" Blaine asked, spotting movement on Elk Island.

"Yes...No...Maybe. I think it may be Andy" Finn said.

"No that is Meredith" Santana said. "That is Andy." She pointed to another, shorter, figure that emerged from the trees.

"He's alive!" Brittany cheered.

Joe did the sign of the cross.

"Yeah, but how are they getting back here?" Mercedes asked. "I think the waves got bigger since Meredith's voyage."

"The boat?" Sugar suggested.

"Look! They're both getting in the water!" Tina gasped. She began shaking with fear so badly that Mike had to put an arm around her to try and calm her.

They watched in horror as Meredith and Andy both tried to navigate their way in the harsh water and stay close to each other. Fortunately for them, the waved pushed them towards the shore a bit, but it still seemed that Andy was having trouble staying above the waves.

"Ohmygosh...ohmygosh" Kurt kept repeating as he watched with wide eyes.

The two swimmers slowly made their way closer to shore. Meredith seemed to have a steady rhythm going because she swam to the island, but Andy seemed to be flailing around and splashing his arms to keep his head above the water.

After a moment, Andy was closer to the shore than Meredith, who was slowed by a large white cap wave.

"Keep going, Andy!" Tina called to the boy.

"You can do it!" Joe said. "Just keep swimming."

That set Brittany and Sugar and Rachel up for the song from Finding Nemo.

"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming. What do you do, you swim, swim, swim!"

"I...can't...stay...up" they heard Andy cry from the water.

"Hold on" Meredith said. "I'm...trying to get...there."

By now Andy was really having trouble staying up. He kept going under for a moment, before surfacing and then repeating.

"Someone has to help him" Finn said. "Meredith is too far and he's really struggling."

"He's gonna drown" Quinn agreed in a shaky voice.

"I'm an okay swimmer" Blaine offered. "I mean, I completed level ten."

"Who are we kidding? Sam, you're on the swim team for goodness sakes!" Mercedes said.

Sam looked unsure. "I can swim but I've never rescued someone! I'll end up pulling the kid down more."

"Please just try" Rachel said.

"We believe in you, man" Finn patted Sam's shoulder.

Sam glanced out at Andy. "Okay, fine."

Sam kicked off his shoes and pulled of his socks and shirt. Then he went into the water. They heard him mumbling cruse words as he got deeper in the cold water. He slowly got himself all wet by diving in and swam out to Andy. It was only about fifteen meters, but it was hard, even for him.

"Andy, stay calm, bro" Sam said, spitting out water.

"Help me" Andy weakly said.

"Okay, you're gonna hold on to me, but you have to stop splashing and moving so much because it'll be hard to move" Sam said to him.

Andy nodded and Sam noticed that aside from the lake water, there were also tears in his eyes.

Sam grabbed Andy's arm and pulled him closer.

"Okay now hold on to my shoulders" Sam said. "But not too tight."

Andy slowly did as he was told but instead of simply grasping Sam's shoulders, he wrapped his arms around his neck. Sam could still breath, so he didn't say anything. Slowly Sam began swimming back to shore. He looked behind him once and saw Meredith slowly coming closer to then.

It was quite a feat, but Sam finally managed to pull Andy and himself towards the shore so far, that he was able to stand up in the water.

"Andy, can you stand here?" Sam asked. Andy slowly let go of Sam and let himself fall back into the water. He has able to stand, but just barely.

Sam and Andy began wading slowly. Everyone once and a while a large wave would come from behind and they'd stumble and fall down.

Finally, the made it to shore. Sam was exhausted by the time he was out of the water. His legs and arms ached and he was shivering.

Andy flopped down on the sand, taking deep breaths.

"Are you guys okay?" Mercedes asked, as they all rushed over to Sam and Andy.

Sam nodded, his teeth still chattering.

"Andy, are you okay?" Tina asked gently.

Andy was lying on his back, with his hands covering his face to probably block the rain. They could see that his face was red.

"Yes" he mumbled weakly.

"We don't have any towels or dry clothes or anything" Rachel said sadly, seeing Sam and Andy shiver.

"F-fifty s-seven" Sam chattered.

"What?" Santana asked.

"Fifty seven degrees. That's how cold the water was" Sam said.

"How could you tell?" Mike asked.

"Are you psychic?" Brittany wondered.

Sam held up his arm, showing them his watch. "It measures temperature."

"Yikes" Finn said, shivering at the thought.

"Here comes Meredith!" Sugar said and they all turned to see Meredith weakly walk out of the water. Even Andy sat up to see her.

Meredith looked even more exhausted than Sam had. She hugged Andy quickly then turned to everyone else, Sam especially.

"Thank you."

* * *

**A/N**

**I'm sorry that I didn't update last week. I was being lazy. I don't even have a legit excuse. I was just lazy. **

**Anyhoo, I hope you liked this chapter. It was very dramatic to write. You guys asked for more plot so there you go. Signed, sealed, and late on delivery. Oops.**

**I'll try to not be a lazy butt and get another chapter up next week. :P Cheers!**


	29. Chapter 29

"You're back! And oh, Andy! You're okay! Oh, thank goodness!" Emma was on the porch in an instant when she saw all the teens come trudging onto the lot.

Andy refused eye contact with anyone and shivered.

"Was he on the island, then?" Will asked Finn.

"Yes" Finn replied. "Meredith swam out there."

"Woah, she swam?" Will gasped. "That's so dangerous."

"We told her. But she didn't listen" Kurt said quietly. "Who could blame her?"

"Well, where's the boat?" Will asked.

Finn and Kurt looked at each other. They didn't know the answer of this.

"I...I don't know" Kurt said. "Hey, Meredith, where's your boat?"

Meredith turn to him. "It's still on Elk Island."

"Why?"

"Yesterday when we filled it with gas, I didn't close the tank thing properly so it's empty now. When the water calm down, we'll have to take another tank over to the boat and drive it back to the pier" Meredith sighed, obviously upset about her mistake.

"Come inside everyone, you're all soaked again" Emma said.

"If it's okay, I think Andy and I will just go home" Meredith said.

"Of course" Will said. "I'm sure your Mom will be glad to have you both back."

Meredith nodded. "But seriously guys, thank you so much for your help. Thank you all."

"Of course" Quinn said. "We'd do it again in a heartbeat."

Meredith gave them watery smiles and put her arm around Andy.

"Maybe we'll see you guys later today" she said as she and Andy turned to leave.

"Sure. It's not like we'll be going anywhere in this lovely weather" Mercedes laughed.

Meredith and Andy took a few steps then Andy stopped, turned around and looked at them all.

"Thanks" he said quietly. It was barely audible over the rain and wind, but they all knew what he said.

* * *

"Everyone dry?" Will asked the teens. Once again, they were huddling around the fire and under blankets in an attempt to stay warm and dry. They had all changed out of their sopping clothes and Emma hung them up, just like the day before.

"Almost" Quinn shivered.

"My hair is still damp" Santana said, running her hand through her silky hair.

"Can I braid it?" Brittany asked her.

"Sure, okay" Santana smiled and sat in Brittany's lap, so she could braid her hair.

Will sat down on a nearby stool. "You know, I just wanted to say how proud I am that you guys went to all the trouble to help find Andy. The weather is hideous and it was so early in the morning, but you guys went, no questions asked. You guys worked logically and together and that's what makes you guys a great team. I'm proud."

"Ew, are you gonna start crying? Because seeing a grown man cry is just plain creepy" Santana scoffed at him.

"Very true, Santana" Sue said, strolling purposely into the room.

Will just rolled his eyes. "Sue, these kids did something amazing today."

"Yeah, yeah, okay" Sue said, but smiled at them.

"And it's not even lunch!" Kurt piped up.

"Speaking of which, I am starving! We barely had breakfast" Finn said.

"True. How about Ms. Pillsbury and I make you guys some lunch. Any requests?" Will asked.

"I could really go for something with peanut butter" Rory grinned. "It's my new obsession."

"A little late to the party, bro" Sam said.

"Yeah, now the fan fave is Nutella" Mercedes said.

"Well, I don't think we have any of that. But how about we make some celery and peanut butter and some cans of soup?" Will offered.

"Deal!" Puck nodded.

"Great" Will stood up. "Coming right up!" He went into the kitchen, humming something happily.

"Let's play a game" Rachel said. "It'll be fun."

"What game?"

"Spoons" Rachel replied. "It's a card game. It's really fun."

"Yes!" Kurt grinned. "It's awesome!"

Mercedes and Blaine nodded.

"We've played it before too" Mercedes said. "It's fun."

"How do you play?" Sam asked. "Does it involve thinking? Because I'm tired."

"No, no thinking. Just fast hands" Blaine said.

"Okay then" Tina said. "Let's play."

"We can't all play though" Mercedes frowned. "Each player need four cards to start and there are sixteen of us. There's not enough cards in the deck."

"I don't think Puck wants to play" Tina said, looking at Puck, who was fast asleep.

"And Brittany and I will just watch" Santana said.

"I'm not really good at cards" Rory said. "When I was eight, my cousin and I played for keeps and I lost my whole bunch of Pokémon cards."

"My brother collects those!" Sam smiled at him.

"Tina, Mike, are you guys gonna play?" Rachel asked.

"I will" Tina said.

"Nah" Mike shook his head. "I'm tired too."

"Joe and I wanna play" Quinn said.

"I'll play if I can have all diamonds" Sugar said. "When we played cards the other day, I got three hearts, a club and a spade. I mean, what is a spade?"

"If you don't shut your dumb mouth, I'll hit you with one" Santana smirked. "Like honestly..."

"Finn, are you going to play?" Rachel asked.

"Huh?" Finn asked, looking over. He and Artie were reading the comics in the local paper.

"I said, are you going to play?" Rachel repeated.

"Oh, uh, not now" Finn said and he and Artie turned back to the comics with giggles.

"So it's Rachel, Kurt, Blaine, Joe, Quinn, Tina, Sam and myself" Mercedes counted.

"Blaine, go get the spoons" Kurt said.

Blaine stood up. "Let's see, there's eight of us so we'll need seven spoons." He ran to the kitchen and came back with seven silver spoons in his hands.

Will came out right after him with a frown. "Blaine, we'll need those!"

"So do we" Blaine said. "We're playing a game."

"I'm making soup!" Will said. "So unless you'd prefer to eat it with a fork-"

"I did that once!" Brittany smiled as she tied an elastic in Santana's hair, ending the long and elegant braid.

"Sorry, Mr. Schuester" Blaine said. "We need these. But we'll wash them before we lunch. We swear."

Will shrugged. "Alrighty then."

"So how do we play?" Joe asked.

"First, let's spread out in a circle" Rachel instructed. They all shuffled around and Blaine put the spoon in the middle. "Okay so the point of the game is to get cards in all the suits. So a seven, for example, in clubs, hearts, spades and diamonds. The catch is you only can be holding four cards at a time. So we all get four cards and the first person looks through the leftover one at a time. If they want to card, they take it and put one down. They pass their reject card to the next person, who does the same. So basically these cards keep getting passed around until someone has all four. When someone gets a set, they take a spoon. The trick is to do it discreetly. When you notice a spoon had been taken, it's a mad rush to grab one. Notice there's not enough spoons for everyone, so who ever is last to claim a spoon loses."

"Sounds easy enough" Quinn nodded.

Kurt shuffled the cards with ease and dealt them. The stack was pretty small when they all had their starting cards.

"Okay I'll start" Kurt said. They took a moment to organize their hand before Kurt picked a card up from the stack. He glanced at it for a moment before slapping it face down to his right, where Mercedes promptly picked it up. She glanced at it and slapped it down to her right for Quinn and reached back to grab the next card Kurt had left for her. The game moved fast and soon Kurt had a small pile of cards waiting for Mercedes, who frantically picked through them.

"Too fast!" Mercedes said as she slapped down another card. "Kurt, slow down."

"Nope!" Kurt laughed and switched a card in his hand for a new card.

The sound of cards slapping down on the ground was very rhythmic. Slap, slap, slap, slap...

"Oh, darn! I need that two back!" Quinn made a face as she watched the card she needed be passed from Joe to Sam.

"No going back!" Rachel cackled, slapping down a card.

"Oh, now the king I need shows up. Jeeze, could it not have come like two minutes ago?" Blaine grumbled to himself.

By now, the leftover cards Kurt had started with were gone so Kurt used the ones that had made it back over to him. The circle never ended.

"Oh!" Rachel gasped at her hand and grabbed a spoon.

As soon as she did, everyone else stopped their card slapping and tried to grab a remaining spoon. Blaine, Kurt, Mercedes, Joe, Sam and Quinn managed to successfully get one.

"Shoot" Tina said sadly.

"Rachel, you totally gave it away with that little 'oh!'" Mercedes said.

"Yeah! 'Oh, goody, I did it!'" Sam used a high pitched voice to impersonate her.

Rachel rolled her eyes and put her spoon back in the middle.

"I was so close" Kurt sighed, showing his hand, which consisted of three sixes and a nine.

"Let's play again" Quinn said, throwing her hand and spoon down. "That's fun."

"Very suspenseful" Sam said. "I kept looking at the spoons to make sure none were missing!"

Kurt nodded and collected everyone's cards. "The hypnotic beat doesn't help at all. It's like a loud heartbeat, which is ironic because my heart is pounding through the whole game." He shuffled the cards.

"You're not starting" Mercedes grabbed the deck from his hand. "You're way too fast for me."

Kurt laughed.

Mercedes started the game again. Once again, the slap, slap, slap rhythm started up and the group focused on their cards. In fact, they were so focused that they didn't see Joe quietly reach out and grab a spoon and set it right by his foot. He sat quietly, smirking to himself as everyone continued slapping and switching cards in a mesmerizing pattern. It was a full minute before Blaine looked up and noticed that one spoon was missing. He slowly grabbed a spoon, but that was noticed by Kurt and Mercedes, who both madly grabbed one too. They other all reached for one too, but it was Rachel who ended up empty handed.

"Wait, who took a spoon first?" Tina asked, still confused as to why they were holding spoons.

Blaine shrugged.

"It was me" Joe said, holding up his own spoon.

"I didn't see you take it" Quinn said.

Joe smirked. "Yeah, that's because I had it for a whole minute before you guys noticed."

"Really? Stealthy!" Sam highfived him.

They played several more rounds after that. Joe won the majority of them.

"How are you so good at getting that spoon?" Rachel asked, frustrated because she lost another one.

"I'm used to no one noticing me" Joe said.

As they started up their ninth round, Will poked his head in the room.

"Lunch time!" he said. "And don't forget to wash the spoons."

So they all stood up and marched to the kitchen. The Spoons players quickly rinsed their spoons and hurried to grab a bowl.

"What was that thing you guys were doing with that infernal sound?" Puck asked. He had awoken when they all had gotten up for food.

"Spoons" Kurt answered simply. "Why?"

"It shook the floor and I was trying to sleep" he replied.

"Sorry we're not sorry" Kurt smirked.

"Well, it's almost one thirty. What shall we do for the rest of the day?" Mike asked.

"It's still raining" Quinn observed.

Will smiled at them. "I don't know about today, but I have an idea of what we should to tomorrow."

"What? What?" they all asked, seeing the impish smile he had and knew it must be fun.

"I was thinking we head on up to Winnipeg for a full day of shopping and touring" Will said with an arm wave for emphasis.

"Yes!" most of the girls and Kurt cheered.

"Shopping?" Puck asked in disbelief. "For a full day? You're kidding, right?"

"Don't worry" Will told him and the guys. "It'll be fun."

* * *

**A/N**

**Hola Amigos! **

**Sorry it's been two weeks but when I'm not trolling twitter (follow me AVeryMagicGleek) I've been using my free time by finishing up my other ongoing fanfiction. But I'll try to get the next chapter up next week. :) **

**If you've never played spoons, I highly recommend you play because it's super fun! **

**That's about all I have to say now. So TTYL**


	30. Chapter 30

For the first time in what seemed like weeks but was really only days, the sun was out. It peeked through the windows and lit up the quiet cottage. Everyone was still asleep, breathing heavily. But then a squirrel ran across the roof of the cottage and the faint clattering was enough to wake someone up.

Tina sat up and yawned. No one else seemed to be up yet. Tina unravelled herself from her sleeping bag and stood up, yawning again.

She carefully stepped over the sleeping bodies and walked to the kitchen.

"Oh, the sun!" Tina said to herself. It was a welcomed sight after the two days of depressing cloudiness.

It was also very nice because the sun made the dew on the grass sparkle. Tina got a glass from the cupboard got some water from the tap. She glanced out the window that was above the sink and the water filled the cup.

"Holy cow" she gasped and almost dropped the glass in shock. She was glad she didn't because it would have made a huge clattering sound and woken everyone up. Outside the window, on the lawn, was a deer. A real live deer. It was quietly chomping on a bush's leaves.

Tina turned off the tap, set her glass down and hurried to the other window to get a better view.

The deer was light brown with patches of white fur. It lifted it's head and turned to stare right at Tina, who froze, afraid to scare it away.

"That's so neat" she said out loud to herself.

"What is?"

Tina turned her head. Mercedes was sitting up and looking at her.

"There is a deer on the lawn!" Tina said, keeping her voice down.

"Really?" Mercedes stood up and hurried over to see. "Sick!"

"It's so adorable" Tina said.

"I want a picture of this" Mercedes said and went to find her camera. She returned and began taking pictures of the deer. It had resumed eating the bush.

"Do you think deer are dangerous?" Tina asked. "Do you think I could go pet it?"

"I wouldn't risk it" Mercedes said warningly.

"But it looks so soft!" Tina whined.

"What're you looking at?"

It was Kurt who joined them. He walked over to them, fixing his hair.

"What looks soft?" Kurt asked.

"Your hair" Mercedes grinned, reaching up and messing Kurt's hair.

Kurt scowled and slapped her hand away.

"The deer" Tina said, pointing out the window.

"Awww!" Kurt cooed. "It's so adorable. I can't believe it's this close to the cottage."

Mercedes took another picture. "It looks like Bambi."

"We should wake the others" Tina said. "They'd like to see it too."

"Oh yeah because sixteen tall teenagers gawking at it through a window won't scare it away" Kurt said sarcastically.

Tina laughed. "Yeah, Finn would scare it away for sure."

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, there was a loud sound and the deer ran off.

"No, come back. I love you" Tina said sadly as it disappeared.

"Darn Mr. Schue" Kurt sighed. The sound was Mr. Schuester opening the bunkhouse door loudly.

He walked across the porch, oblivious to his actions.

"Hey guys" Will whispered when he opened the cottage door and stepped in.

"Mr. Shue! Do you know what you just did?" Tina glared at him.

"No...what did I do?" Will asked, startled at her tone.

"There was a deer on the lawn and when came out, you scared it away" Tina told him.

"A deer? Really?"

Mercedes thrust the camera at him so he could see the pictures.

"Wow, that's so cool. I'm sorry I scared it off. I had no idea" Will said.

"It's okay, Mr. Shue" Mercedes said. "If it stayed any longer, Tina would have gone out there and probably tried to feed it."

Will laughed. "Don't do that. Deer are feisty."

Mercedes turned off her camera.

"So is anyone else up?" Will asked.

"Nope" Kurt answered. "We're going to the mall today, right?"

Will laughed. "Yes. Go wake up your friends so we can get moving."

* * *

Will had called for four taxis to take them to he Victoria Beach parking lot and another large bus to take them into Winnipeg. The bus ride was fun and fine. The girls were a bit more excited to go than the guys, but they cheered up a bit later on. Tina and Mercedes and Kurt had repeated their deer spotting story so many times that even they were sick of it and Mercedes' camera was passed around for all to see. The ride to Winnipeg was just as exciting geographically as it was when they first got there, but now, due to the heavy rain they had received, there were more flooded fields and fallen trees.

The drive was almost two hours and when they arrived at a mall, it was almost noon.

They all got off the bus and went into the mall.

"Remember guys..." Sam joked. "If you bump into someone, the Canadian thing to do is apologize."

"That's right, eh!" Mercedes added with a chuckle.

Will sighed and looked at his watch. "Okay well, here's the deal. It's almost lunch so if you wanna go get and eat food, go ahead. If you want to shop, go ahead. The main thing is that you stay together. Not only are we in a different country, but you don't have phones. So stay with a group. Meet back here at these doors at four. I've got us dinner reservations and I want us to experience some city life too."

"What restaurant?" Sugar asked.

Will grinned. "Ah, well that's a surprise."

"McDonalds?" Puck asked hopefully.

"Ew" Kurt frowned. "Please don't tell me we're getting the same fatty foods we can get in America, Mr. Schue."

"You like their salad, Kurt" Blaine said.

"No, we're not" Will said. "Anyways, go shop or have fun or something."

"Stay together" Emma called after them as they turned swiftly and walked away.

Will sighed and turned to Emma and Sue. "That leaves us."

"Sue, are going to come with us or stay by yourself?" Emma asked politely.

Sue clicked her tongue and sighed. "I'll stay with you two, but I kid you not, if your hormones start going crazy and you two go wild or Will purchases any hair product, I will leave."

Emma blushed. "Okay."

* * *

The teens migrated into three groups. The first group, consisting of Finn, Rachel, Sam, Mercedes and Puck, went left and stopped into a clothing store.

"My mom says I should stop dressing like a lumberjack" Finn told them as they walked in.

Puck snorted. "Dude, she's right."

Finn frowned at him and tugged uncomfortably at his shirt.

Rachel could tell that Puck's response wasn't the one he expected.

"I like your style" she said kindly.

He smiled gratefully at her.

"That's sweet, but Finn, your mom has a point" Mercedes said. "You wear plaid shirts like every day and some days you wear these puffy vests with them."

"What's wrong with that?" Finn asked.

"Puffy vests are fine if it's pink and you're a girl and you're on a ski hill" Sam said.

"But you're already so broad, you don't need so much puff" Puck said.

"Help! I'm drowning in my vest!" Sam said in a squeaky voice.

Finn rolled his eyes. "Is it really that bad?" he asked, directing it mostly at Rachel, whose opinion was the only one he truly valued.

"No! I'm mean, okay, it's not magazine worthy, but if you like it then you should wear it" Rachel said. "I'd like you no matter what."

"That's rich coming from the girl wearing a Tshirt with frills on it" Puck said.

Rachel looked at her shirt. It was magenta with pink lace frills on the ends. Not only was it a lovely colour, it was very comfortable.

"You both need makeovers" Mercedes declared. "Fortunately, I'm here to help."

"No thanks" Rachel said. "I'm perfectly content with my attire."

"Same" Finn added quickly. "But I will buy some shirts so you can help with that...if you want."

Mercedes beamed. "Deal."

"Wow will this be like What Not To Wear?" Sam asked in a mock tone.

"I don't even want to know how you know about that" Puck groaned.

"I have a little sister who's probably going to grow up to be Heidi Klum from Project Runway. And yes, I've seen that junk too" Sam said.

Puck pretended to gag.

* * *

The second group, consisting of Tina, Quinn, Joe, Mike and Artie, went to an electronic store.

"Check it out!" Mike grinned, running up to Tina and Quinn, who were chatting. In his hands was a black box. It had a radio on one side.

"What is it?" Tina asked, highly amused at her boyfriend's level of excitement.

"It's a lunch bag with a radio on it!" Mike exclaimed. "Look, it can fit my sandwich and stuff and it has this neat radio on it. It's got an iPod hookup too!"

Tina and Quinn smiled.

"That's cool" Quinn said.

"Cool? Yo, that's sick!" Artie said, wheeling up to them. "Ingenious."

Mike nodded enthusiastically. "Do you think if I got this, the cafeteria monitors will come over thinking it's a cellphone and get mad at me?"

Quinn nodded. "Probably."

Mike looked wistfully at the radio bag. Then he shrugged and smiled. "Oh well, I guess we'll have to see then, won't we?"

"You're buying it?" Tina asked.

"It was in the clearance bin!" Mike winked at her and ran off.

"At least our table will be a bit cooler" Tina sighed.

"Until the monitors hear it" Quinn said. "They're total sticklers for rules."

Tina shrugged. "Come on, I need new earbuds."

They walked to the other end of the store where there was a huge display of headphone and earbuds.

Tina grabbed the first pair she saw.

"You put a lot of thought into that" Joe commented, walking over to where they were.

Tina smiled. "Yeah, but I trusted my instinct."

"Joe would pray before he bought anything" Quinn laughed.

"There's nothing wrong with that" Joe said defensively. "God is there to help."

"Cool. Well, these are cheap and will do until I get a better pair" Tina said, looking at the package. "Plus it's got a microphone so that's a bonus."

"Did you see the headphones Mercedes has?" Quinn asked.

"The huge bright pink jewelled ones?" Tina grinned.

"Yeah! You should totally get something like that" Quinn laughed.

"Because those totally suit my personality" Tina rolled her eyes. She walked up to the cash register and paid for the earbuds then she, Joe and Quinn walked to the exit of the store.

Mike and Artie joined them and Mike had a shopping bag in his hand, containing his precious radio lunch bag.

They left the store.

* * *

The last group consisted on Kurt, Blaine, Santana, Brittany, Sugar and Rory. They headed in the opposite direction as the other two groups. The first store they hit was a popular teen clothing store.

"This is dumb" Kurt huffed as they walked in the store. "This store bugs me so much."

"And why is that?" Blaine asked, amusedly. He felt a rant coming on.

Kurt pointed to a shirt at the very back of the store. "Can you see what colour that shirt is?"

Blaine looked. "Dark blue...or black maybe. It's too dark to see."

"Exactly. It's like night time in here. And do you know why that is, Blaine?"

Blaine sighed, regretting his participation in the conversation but also amused as to where this is going.

"No, Kurt, why?"

"It's so people can't see how hideous these clothes are!" Kurt exclaimed.

"Kurt, this is a huge chain of stores. They're clothes must be fine if they're so popular" Blaine pointed out.

"No. This isn't fashionable" Kurt said, jabbing a pair of girl's blue and orange plaid shorts with his finger. "This is gross."

"The pattern is hideous" Blaine agreed. "Blue and orange are nice colours, but they should never be worn together."

"But aside from the pattern, they're so short!"

"They're girl shorts."

"So stripper-short is okay if you're a female?" Kurt demanded.

"That's the style" Blaine countered.

"And that's why stores like this bug me."

"But Kurt, you're all about the style."

"Style with class. This is style with...trash" Kurt scoffed.

"Clever" Blaine smiled.

"I mean..." Kurt the shorts off the hanger and held them up. "No one's butt can fit in these."

Suddenly Sugar screeched. "Kurt! Those shorts!"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "I know, hideous, right?"

"What? No they're so cute! And I have these flip-flops that'd match perfectly!" Sugar raced up and took the shorts from Kurt's hands then turned and raced to the change rooms.

Blaine glanced at Kurt and started laughing because the look of horror on his face was hilarious.

"Wow. I think I just threw up a bit in my mouth" Kurt stuttered.

Blaine laughed and patted Kurt's arm. "Don't worry, we'll leave soon.

"Actually, let's leave now" Santana said, walking up to them arm in arm with Brittany.

"Yeah" Brittany said. "I'm hungry anyways."

"We'll get lunch soon" Santana promised her.

"Where are Sugar and Rory?" Brittany asked.

"Sugar is trying the most hideous pair of shorts I've ever seen" Kurt began.

"Worse than those cotton gym shorts?" Brittany cut in.

Kurt paused. "Yes, but those gym shorts are a closes second. Anyways, that's what Sugar is doing and Rory is probably with her."

"I'll go get them" Blaine said, walking off to find them.

He returned a moment later with Rory and Sugar right behind him.

"You're not buying the shorts?" Kurt asked Sugar.

"They were to small" she replied.

Blaine almost fell over from laughing.

* * *

"Yum" Will said as he bit into his sub sandwich. "Em, how's your soup?"

"Very good" Emma smiled at him.

"You two sicken me" Sue muttered. She was eating soup as well and glared at them from across the small food court tables. They had collectively decided to get food right away, as they were all very hungry.

Both Will and Emma ignored Sue's comment.

"Um, Sue, are there any stores in particular that you want to go to?" Emma asked. "I was looking at the map of the mall when we came in and there were a few stores I'd like to go to."

"Blouse Emporium, I'm guessing?" Sue smirked.

"Uh, is that a real place?" Emma asked, looking around.

"I'd like to go to Roots" Will said. "It's a Canadian Store."

"Good idea" Emma nodded. "Sue?"

"I saw a sporting goods store a ways back" Sue said. "I'm in need of another track suit."

"Another one?" Will asked.

"Yes, William, another one" Sue said. "Maybe you've yet to realize, but I'm a world famous cheerleading coach and track suits are normal and suggested attire for someone like me. You, on the other hand, wear sweater vests like they're going out of style. Well, news flash for you, they already are. Unless you're an eighty year old man or a dusty librarian, sweater vests are not okay."

"Sweater vests are professional and classy" Will argued. "And I don't wear them around the house or anything. You do, though."

"You can't prove that" Sue crossed her arms.

"You're not denying it" Will said smugly.

"Um, I'm done my soup so, um, maybe you guys want to go? We can go to Roots first then go to the sports store" Emma said, trying to stop them before it got ugly.

"Okay" Will said to her.

Sue shrugged and loudly slurped the last of her soup.

As they stood up and threw out their trash, Emma leaned over to Will.

"So Blouse Emporium doesn't exist?"

* * *

"I'm starving!" Finn said. "I haven't eaten since breakfast."

"Me neither!" Sam whined.

"What? I gave you all the mints in my purse!" Mercedes poked Sam with a laugh.

"Wait, you had mints and you didn't share?" Puck gasped. "Don't you know the saying? Bros before Mentos."

Sam and Finn laughed.

"You just made that up" Sam said. "Rachel, for goodness sakes, hurry it up."

Rachel was sitting among a mess of shoe boxes. She was staring intently down at her feet. On her left foot was a baby blue glittery ballet flat and on the left was a black one with a bit of a heel and a cute bow on the top. She didn't know which ones she liked better.

"Sorry" she said, looking up. "I'm just stuck. I don't know which ones I like better. And you guys are no help. I wish Kurt was here."

"You called?"

Rachel turned in shock. Down the isle came Kurt, Blaine, Sugar, Rory, Brittany and Santana. Kurt was grinning.

"Your fairy godfather has arrived" Kurt grinned, waving his arms.

"Hey!" Mercedes greeted them all.

"Hello!" Sugar said. "Mercedes, wait until you see the tank top I bought. It's faboo!"

"Kurt, come here. I need your help" Rachel said, making grabby hands in Kurt's direction.

Kurt walked over and the two of them began to discuss her shoe options.

"No! This isn't helping us get to the food any faster!" Finn wailed.

"Stop being so dramatic" Santana said saucily.

"I'm hungry too" Brittany said. "Let's all go get lunch together!"

"Good idea" Sam smiled at her.

Rachel didn't end up buying either of the shoes. Kurt said the blue one's looked childish and the black ones were made of cheap material. So the group, now twice as large, left the store and headed to the food court.

There were many stalls down in the food court so they made sure they had a few tables reserved then went to purchase their desired meals.

"What the heck is that?" Puck asked Finn when he sat down at the table with his food.

"Poutine" Finn answered. "It's a Canadian thing." His tray contained a platter of thick fries covered in gravy and shredded mozzarella cheese.

"Is that gravy?" Puck asked.

"Yup" Finn answered, shoving a fry into his mouth.

"Sick" Puck said, swiping a fry and eating it. "Man, that's so good."

"Any interesting store you guys went to?" Blaine asked Rachel.

"Nothing noteworthy" Rachel said. "You?"

"Same" Blaine said.

"It's kinda weird, isn't it?" Mercedes began.

"What is?" Blaine turned to her.

"Well, Mr. Schue probably took us to the mall so we can obviously shop, but so we can experience some life in Canada. And the reality is, the stores in this mall, for the most part, are the same stores we have in the States. The only difference is the shoppers around us."

"You're right" Blaine said. "We might as well be in Ohio."

"Okay well after this lunch, I'm going to find a store that isn't in the states" Kurt said. "I'm going to experience some culture! Who's with me?"

"Me!" Rory was the first to jump in. "There may not be a big difference between Canada and the States, but there is a big difference between North America and Ireland. I've yet to experience the whole American dream, mostly because the Pierces are afraid I'll get lost in Lima, and I'm excited to see a bit of Canada life too."

"That's the spirit!" Kurt smiled widely at him.

They chatted amiably as they ate and they also kept an eye out for the other group. Soon they were finished their food and got up to throw away their trash.

"Are we travelling together, then?" Mercedes, looking at the large group.

"No" Santana said quickly.

"Why not? I want to stay with Kurt" Rachel smiled at Kurt.

"Fine. Lady Hummel and his suspender-clad sidekick can stay with you guys" Santana said.

"I am not a sidekick!" Blaine defiantly stated.

"Everyone knows the sidekick is the shorter one" Brittany said. Blaine glared at her.

"Fine, we'll trade Puck for Klaine" Rachel said.

"What? You're trading me?" Puck exclaimed. "I'm not just something you can trade."

"You're right. Santana, I'll pay you a dollar to take Puck" Finn grinned at her.

Puck gasped, but everyone else laughed.

"We're just kidding" Mercedes said after their giggling subsided.

Puck smiled. He knew it was just a joke. "Whatever. I'll go with the other group anyways. I can always help the ladies try on some clothes." He smirked suggestively.

Sugar and Santana rolled their eyes. "Gross."

With that, the two groups split up and went their separate ways.

* * *

"Stores like these are no fun because all the books are sold in America as well" Tina sighed, tossing a book down on a table. They had went into a bookstore, just for a peruse. Artie and Mike were discussing popular biographies and Joe headed straight for the religious book section. Quinn and Tina were looking at the teen books, but nothing caught their eye.

"I know" Quinn said. "Come on, I'm hungry. Let's get the guys and go."

"I'll get Mike and Artie. You get Joe" Tina said and the two girls rushed off.

"Mike! Artie!" Tina said, finding them pouring over a magazine. "What're you reading?"

"Nothing" Mike said quickly, shoving the magazine to Artie and blushing.

"A-are we going?" Artie asked, pushing up his glasses awkwardly.

Tina narrowed her eyes at them. Something was up. "What's your problem?"

"Nothing" Artie replied quickly. "Nothing at all." He flipped the magazine over so the only thing Tina could see was a milk ad.

"What's that?" she asked, pointing to it.

"Nothing" Mike said. He put his arm around Tina and tried to turn her around. "Hmmm I'm in the mood for some pizza. What about you?"

But Tina stood still. "What have you got there, Artie?"

"This? Oh, a magazine. Nothing, really."

Tina's glare held. "These 'nothing's sound an awful lot like a something."

"No, they sound like a nothing" Mike said. "Which is what it is. Nothing."

Tina just glared at Artie, who looked very uncomfortable. He kept fidgeting and in his chair and his cheeks looked oddly red. Then, before either guy could react, Tina snatched the magazine off Artie's lap. Artie and Mike both reached out to grab it back, but she skillfully dodged them and she flipped the magazine over. But it wasn't what she expected. Tina had expected something a bit more scandalous. Not the boys of One Direction. In her hands, Tina held a cheesy girly magazine. The kind of stuff her eleven year old cousin worshiped. The cover featured One Direction and Taylor Swift.

"What?" Tina laughed. Why on earth were Mike and Artie reading this?

Mike was trying to slowly back away and Artie was pretending to hit his head on a bookshelf.

"You guys were reading this? Why?" Tina looked at them.

"Page fourteen" Mike muttered while Artie groaned.

Tina raised an eyebrow then flipped to the page.

"Which One Direction Hottie Will Be Your Prom Date?" Tina read aloud. Page fourteen and fifteen had an elaborate path quiz, which would end up leading you to one of the band members, who is supposedly your perfect Prom date.

Tina glanced at Mike and Artie, who now were both red in the face. "Were you guys doing this quiz?"

Neither of them responded, but just by the way they averted their eyes, she knew the answer.

Tina burst out laughing. "You guys! Why?" She was laughing uncontrollably.

"What's the hold up here?" Quinn asked as she and Joe, hand in hand, walked up to them.

Artie groaned again.

"Mike and Artie were completing this" Tina giggled and held out the magazine to Quinn.

Quinn and Joe both read it and laughed.

"Well?" Quinn asked with a look of amusement on her face. "What answers did you get?"

"Zayne" Mike mumbled.

"Harry" Artie said equally as quietly.

Tina and Joe and Quinn burst out laughing again.

Finally Mike sighed. He snatched the magazine out of Tina's hand, threw it back on the shelf, and grabbed Tina and Quinn's wrist, pulling them away from the magazine. "Food!" he called as Artie and Joe quickly hurried after them.

* * *

"Here we go!" Kurt said, as they stood in front of a store. "This is a Canadian chain."

"'Dollarama'" Finn said. "So, like, things for a dollar?"

"No, things for eight dollars and sixty nine cents" Mercedes said sarcastically.

They went in the store. There was a bunch of little things in the store: candy, office supplies, kids toys, home items...

"And it's all a dollar?" Finn asked.

"Plus tax" Blaine reminded him.

"Look at this!" Rachel said. "Canadian merch!" She glazed at a wall of Canadian things, ranging from stickers to mugs to hats to pens to flags to shoelaces. The red and white flag was everywhere, along with beavers and Mounties.

"We should buy stickers!" Blaine said.

"Yes!" Rachel said. "A little momentum of this trip."

"Should we get Canadian flag stickers? Or little beavers playing hockey?" Blaine asked.

"Flag" Rachel said. "For sure."

The ended up leaving Dollarama with four sheets of stickers and some candy.

"Now where to?" Sam asked, glancing at nearby stores.

None of them cared one way or another so they ended up just walking down the mall until they stopped at some clothing store.

"Okay, Finn" Mercedes smiled, turning to face the tall teenager. "Let's get you some non-lumberjack shirts!"

Kurt laughed airily. "Who talked to Carole?"

"Finn told us" Sam said. "So Mercedes offered to help him find some shirts that are not plaid."

Kurt grinned. "Now I'm super glad I stuck with you guys. I just love a makeover."

"It's not a makeover!" Finn said firmly. "And let's just get this over with."

Kurt and Mercedes raced off to find some shirts for Finn, who looked unsure of this.

"Don't worry, bro" Blaine said, as if he knew what Finn was thinking. "If you don't like the shirts, don't get them. The thing with Kurt is that he thinks we all want to dress like him. I love him to bits, but sometimes what he wears is a bit crazy. I'm glad that he's happy expressing himself through clothes and they all seem to work for him, but they're not for everyone. We all have our own style, and that's what makes us different."

Finn smiled gratefully at him. "Does Kurt like your style?"

Blaine laughed loudly. "Not even close. At first he thought it was a cute joke. I guess he thought it was laundry day or something. But when he realized my attire was legit, he tried to change it right away. But I stayed strong and didn't let him change much. He's helped me coordinate better and try some new things, but its basically the same."

Finn laughed. "That's good to know."

"Finn! Come here!" Kurt called from across the store.

"Here we go" Finn muttered as he stalked over to them.

Mercedes and Kurt both had an armful of shirts.

"Okay I have long sleeved shirts, Mercedes has Tshirts and over there in that pile are an array of sweaters and cardigans that will work well with your skin tone" Kurt explained. He grinned. "Oh, this is so fun. You're like a really, really big Ken doll except your smile isn't as creepy looking."

"Um...thanks" Finn said slowly.

For the next twenty minutes, Finn was a model. He tried on many shirts and sweaters. Kurt judged critically and seemed to enjoy taking charge. Some outfits Finn rejected right away. But there were some that he didn't mind.

"Yeah, this is cool" he said a few times. "I'd wear this, I suppose."

He also trusted Rachel and Sam's opinions.

He ended up buying four long sleeved shirts, two Tshirts, a sweater and two cardigans. He seemed pleased with his purchases and Kurt reminded him often how much better he'll look.

"Lumberjack no more!" Sam declared as they left the store.

* * *

"Well would you look at that" Will said. He held out his wrist watch for Emma and Sue to see. "It's almost four!"

"Wow, time flies when you're enjoying Canadian malls" Emma smiled.

Sue rolled her eyes. "That means we are leaving, right?" she asked. "I'm done with this."

"It was a successful day, don't you think?" Will asked, glancing at their handfuls of shopping bags.

"I'd say so" Emma said.

"Yes, I agree" Sue said. "I bought a bunch of baby clothes for my daughter."

"That's so sweet" Will said.

"Did you see the little track suit she got? It was baby sized and so cute" Emma gushed.

Will smiled. "Like mother like daughter."

"You betcha" Sue nodded.

"Well, let's go back to the doors we came in" Will said. "Hopefully the kids will be there."

They were quite a ways away from the door so by the time they got to the door, they were fashionably late. Some of the teens were there already.

"Hey guys!" Will said, as they walked up to them. "How was shopping?"

"Great" Kurt said. "It was so fun."

Will gave a thumbs up. "Super."

"Do you know the whereabouts of any of the others?" Emma asked.

"Right behind you" Finn answered. The adults turned to see several others.

"Are we really late?" Santana asked. She reached over and grabbed Puck's wrist so she could see his watch."

"No, no you're fine" Mercedes said. "We're still waiting on Quinn and that group."

"We never saw them" Sugar said.

They stood around waiting for ten minutes before the other group showed up.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Tina said as they hurried over.

"We have a legit excuse" Quinn said.

"Which is?" Sam prompted.

Artie blushed a bit. "My wheelchair accidentally knocked down a jewelry and sunglasses stand."

Will looked both annoyed and amused. "Any damages?"

"None" Artie said.

"So dinner now, yes?" Finn asked.

"It's only four-ish" Santana said. "Too early for dinner."

Will smiled. "We're going for a walk. We'll see the city, experience Canada outside of cottage country. Then we'll get dinner."

"Okay" they all nodded and they walked toward the mall's exit.

"Wait!" Rachel said suddenly. She got up on a bench so she was taller than everyone, even Finn. She quickly counted everyone.

"Yup, all here" she declared. "Just wanted to be sure. Didn't want to leave Santana again."

"Not funny" Santana muttered darkly.

* * *

**A/N**

**Yay for shopping. I hope this chapter, which was very long, amused you. :)**

**Again, I apologize for anything Sue says. She's the hardest to write. I have a lot to live up to! Hahaha**

**Anyhoo, a while back, reader ****azebra117**** suggested that they see a moose. I've never seen a moose in VB so please accept the deer instead. This actually happened to me. But I'll try and work in a moose too :D**

**TTYL and I love you all for reading and revewing. Byeeeee!**


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N **

**I thought I should mention that I don't own any of the stores, restaurants, products or companies mentioned in this chapter and the previous one. Nor am I trying to promote any of them; I'm simply poking fun at my home, Canada, and highlighting the differences between Canada and USA in a friendly way. :)**

* * *

They walked around for about twenty minutes. Luckily, it was warm out and the sun was still visible.

"Winnipeg is nice" Mercedes said. "It's so big and busy."

"See? I knew coming up here would he a good idea" Will said proudly to the people around him. "The experience is like no other."

"Well, can we experience some dinner? I'm so hungry, I could eat a...moose!" Puck said.

Will laughed. "Alright, alright. I did make dinner reservations, like I mentioned."

"Where?" Quinn asked.

Will smiled. "A Canadian place."

He turned and started walking down a street. They all followed excitedly, like ducklings in a line.

"Here we are!" Will said, pointing across a street at a restaurant.

"Swiss Chalet?" Finn read the sign.

"It's pronounced 'cha-let', I think" Sugar said.

"No, it's not. The 't' is silent" Blaine told her. "And it's not 'cha', it's like 'sha'."

"Sha-lay?" Sugar asked with a frown. "That's so dumb. Who spelt that?"

"Swiss? Like as is Switzerland?" Kurt asked. "How is this Canadian?"

"Maybe because chalets are associated with mountains and there are the Rockies in Canada too?" Tina suggested. They all started at her.

"Um, no." Will said. "Anyways, who cares about the name?"

"The point is, there are nineteen empty chairs in their, waiting for our behinds to fill them" Sue said, looked frustrated. "Now can we stop this jib-jab and go eat?"

"Hear, hear!" Sam said and they all ran towards the restaurant.

"Look both ways before you cross!" Will shouted after them.

* * *

The restaurant was normal and classy. It was a family restaurant so there were kids around. While they were waiting to order, Puck and Mercedes were making silly faces at a little girl at another table. Their table was very long and was at the back of the place.

Once the food came, they all stopped their chatter to eat, but the talk started up again moments after.

"Finn, you're supposed to use a fork to eat green beans" Kurt frowned at him.

Finn shrugged. "Why?"

"Because it's the proper thing to do" Kurt replied. "We're in Canada, be polite."

Finn stuck his tongue out at Kurt.

"You know guys" Joe began slowly. "We only have three days left on this trip."

"Three days?" Puck asked.

"Three?" Tina gasped. "But...but...we just got here!"

"Nine days ago" Kurt said.

"Wow. Doesn't feel like it" Finn said. "Oh, Tina, stop crying."

Tina sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Sorry. I'm just having so much fun."

Santana almost coughed on her drink as she laughed.

"Joe brings up a good point" Will said, from the end of the table. "In a few days we'll be back in Lima."

"Our time in Canada will be done" Emma added.

"I'm planning on buying Canada" Sugar said. "How much do you think it costs?"

Everyone ignored her and turned back to Will.

"So is there anything you guys wanna do still?" Will asked them, looking down the table. "Speak now or forever hold your peace."

"I wanna eat at Moonlight Inn" Kurt said.

Will smiled and snapped his fingers. "Great! How about tomorrow for lunch?"

"Okay!" they all agreed eagerly.

"Anything else?" Emma asked.

"Parasailing!" Mike shouted.

Will stared at him. "Okay, we'll do that after we go skydiving."

"Really?" Blaine asked with a grin. "We're going skydiving?"

Will rolled his eyes. "No I was being sarcastic. We are doing nothing of the sort."

"So that's a no to the parasailing, isn't it?" Mike asked sadly.

Will nodded. "Anyways, is the food all good?"

There was a mixture of 'yes', 'no' and one 'there is no hair in mine'. The last one was Brittany's comment.

"Wait, you're upset that there is no hair?" Quinn asked, looking confused.

"I ordered angel hair" Brittany told her. "And this is just dumb spaghetti."

"Brittany, angel hair is what that thin pasta is called. It's not real hair" Kurt said.

Brittany stared down at the pasta then back up at Kurt. "Oh...that makes sense. And it's good because hair is gross."

"Then why did you order- you know what, never mind" Quinn said, turning back to her own food, which was a turkey burrito.

"Coach Sylvester, how are you enjoying it in Canada?" Mercedes asked Sue.

"I'm having having a hard time knowing that this is the air that Justin Bieber used to breath" Sue said. "You may not know it, but The Biebs and I are enemies. I filed a lawsuit against the little bugger when he store his famous swishy hair style from one Sue Sylvester."

Mercedes nodded. "Oh. And aside from that, how are you liking the trip?"

"It's nice. Very relaxing, I suppose" Sue said.

"That's good" Mercedes said.

* * *

"Mr. Schue, are we ordering dessert?" Puck asked, looking hungrily at the dessert menu, almost two hours later.

"Nope. We're going somewhere special for dessert later" Will said with a mischievous smile. "You'll like it, I promise."

So Will paid for the dinner, they grabbed their bags, and they all left the restaurant. The sun was setting and the sky was a mixture of colours. It was pretty enough for Mercedes to take a picture of. They walked in a long row of pairs so other pedestrians could walk on the sidewalk too. The group of them walked for a while, enjoying the city life and chatting amongst each other. Even though that really, it was just another city that wasn't any different from any other, it was the fact that they were experiencing a Canadian city. It was differently special.

After another hour of walking, the sun was almost set. The stars were out above and the moon shined brightly. It was also a bit chilly, as the darkness set.

"Okay, who's cold?" Will asked, as they came to a stop walk and waited for the little walk symbol. Several of them raised their hands.

"If the dessert is ice cream, I'm gonna have to pass" Rachel said assertively.

Will smiled. "No, it's not. Now, what your favourite coffee shop?"

"The Lima Bean" Kurt and Blaine both answered right away, then stared at each other with meaningful smiles, remember the many, many trips to that place.

"Yeah, that place is alright" Tina agreed

"McDonalds' coffee isn't bad" Santana said.

"I don't drink coffee" Finn said. "I get my caffeine from energy drinks."

Will waited for more answers, then continued. "Well, actually, as much as those are good answers, I was hoping someone would say Dunkin' Donuts."

"We're going to Dunkin' Donuts?" Artie asked.

"Just listen" Will said. "You see, there used to be many Dunkin' Donuts in Canada, but now there are only six, and they're located in Quebec. So where, you ask, do Canadians get their coffee fill from?"

"Tim Hortons" Kurt answered.

Will blinked. "Yeah, you're right!"

"How did you know that, Kurt?" Emma asked, as they all crossed the street.

"It's a Canadian icon. You know those silly little comics in the newspaper? The ones that poke fun at Canadian stereotypes includes a cup of Tim Hortons coffee" Kurt said.

"I thought it was just hot chocolate because they were cold" Sam said.

"Nope, it's Tim Hortons, Canada's specialty" Will said. "Although, there are a few Tims in America. There's a few in Buffalo, near the border" Will told them.

"But you guys won't have to go to Buffalo to try the wonders of Tim Hortons" Emma said.

"We're going now?" Brittany asked eagerly.

Will nodded and pointed down the street where a large Tim Hortons sign was lit up.

"Why does the name 'Tim Horton' sound do familiar?" Puck asked.

"Tim Horton was an NHL player" Will said. "He's who the chain was named after, actually."

Puck snapped his fingers. "Oh, yeah, I remember now. He was a good player."

"He was. He also died in a car crash at the age of forty four" Will informed them.

"Um, Mr. Schue?" Finn piped up. "I don't really want a coffee."

"Me neither" Rory said. "I tried coffee once and it tastes like tar."

"What?" Kurt look both offended and surprised. "Coffee is amazing! It's the best thing since sliced bread! It's the epitome of yummy! It's-"

"It's an acquired taste" Will laughed. "And don't worry, Tim Hortons has hot chocolate, ice caps, bottles of water etcetera."

"Great" Finn said.

They all walked to Tim Hortons. It was a small, warm place that smelled of coffee. There was a see-through display of baked good like donuts, muffins and cookies.

"This place rocks!" Blaine said as they went in.

They all ordered something to drink. Kurt, Blaine, Santana, Rachel, Joe, Quinn, Will and Emma got coffee. Sugar, Sue and Tina got tea. Everyone else got hot chocolate. They took their cups and walked outside.

"How does this rate compared to the Lima Bean?" Emma asked Kurt, cupping the steaming cup in her hands.

Kurt tilted his head. "They're both pretty good."

"I like this way better" Santana said. "Let's be real, the Lima Bean's stuff tastes like paper. We only put up with it because it's the best thing we've got."

"Fact" Artie agreed.

"No, their coffee is really good" Kurt said. "And their holiday cookies, too."

"Seconded" Blaine added.

Suddenly, a shout followed by a few very colourful words was heard. Finn started laughing.

"What happened?" Sue asked, more annoyed than concerned.

"I burnt my tongue!" Puck said with a slight lisp. "Finn said it was cool enough to drink!"

Finn snorted with laughter. "You're so dumb. You can see steam coming off it! The cup is hot! You really thought it was cold?"

"You said!" Puck tried to defend himself.

"Oh, yeah, because Finn is so knowledgeable" Quinn smirked, obviously sarcastic.

"Calm down, you'll be fine" Emma told Puck. "Um, wait to drink more?"

"What's all the yelling about?" Will asked, coming out of Tim Hortons will two boxes. They were about the size of a laptop and about four inches tall.

"Puck, being the genius he is, burnt his tongue" Mercedes reported.

Will snickered. "Gotta be careful."

"Yo, what's in the box, Mr. Schuester?" Artie asked.

Will smiled. "A little treat for everyone. He opened the top box to reveal a large selection of donuts.

"Yum!" Mike said as they all frantically made a grab to get the donut they wanted.

"Just like how Americans get their donuts from Krispie Kreme, Canadians have Tim Hortons donuts" Will said, holding out the box for Emma and Sue.

"Here, Brittany, you like rainbows or something, trade with me" Tina said, holding out her rainbow sprinkle donut.

Brittany looked down at her own donut, a Boston Cream.

"Deal" Brittany smiled and the two girls swapped.

"These are so good!" Rachel said. "Still warm, too!"

"What kind is this?" Finn asked, holding his up. His had a beige-coloured glaze and thick cream oozing from the center.

Will flashed a smile. "Canadian Maple; a Tim's specialty."

"It's delicious" Finn said, taking a humungous bite.

* * *

Now warmed up from their beverages and donuts, they walked down a road, still in their line.

"I need a cup holder on this thing" Artie said, having trouble wheeling and holding two things.

"I can hold your donut...in my stomach" Santana offered slyly.

"Hardy har har" Artie rolled his eyes and smiled gratefully at Finn who had long finished his donut and used his free hand to push Artie's wheelchair.

They moved down the road and eventually came to a bride. Cars drove past behind them as they stood against the cement rails and gazed at the water below.

"Anyone know what body of water this is?" Will quizzed them.

"The Indian Ocean?" Brittany guessed.

"No, this is the Red River. It connects to Lake Winnipeg, where you guys were swimming in" Will said.

"It's pretty" Mercedes commented, peering down at the waters. It was too dark to see much, but there were a few streetlight around lit things up and they could see the stars reflected in the calm water too.

They were all silent, simply staring at into the darkness and sipping their drinks. Santana threw an arm around Brittany, hugging her close.

"Who's humming?" Quinn demanded, breaking the silence.

The humming stopped.

"Sorry" Tina said meekly. "I have a song stuck in my head."

"What song?" Rachel asked.

"'Who Cares'" Tina said.

"Well I obviously do since I asked" Rachel replied with a huff.

Tina giggled. "No, the song is called 'Who Cares'."

"By Pip?" Mercedes asked and Tina nodded. "I love that song."

And with that, she and Tina started singing out loud. Others joined in and pretty soon, all of them, minus the adults, were standing on the side of a bridge, singing at the top of their lungs.

'_This party's over, my night has just begun_

_The band plays on but all I wanna do is run_

_Leave my coat at the check just to get out the door_

_No need for formalities anymore_

_Red hot night on the boulevard_

_Bright white dreams though the skies are dark_

_To light it up now, all I need's the spark_

_Who cares that I got no plans and_

_Who cares that I got no cash_

_Who cares, I still got my cool_

_I still got my cool, I still got my cool_

_Make my way down the street, don't care which way I go_

_Familiar sounds, familiar heat'll make ya feel right at home_

_Something makes me come alive tonight_

_Nothing can make things not go right_

_Red hot night on the boulevard_

_Bright white dreams though the skies are dark_

_To light it up now, all I need's the spark_

_Who cares that I got no plans and_

_Who cares that I got no cash_

_Who cares, I still got my cool_

_I still got my cool, I still got my cool_

_Nothing's holding me back for the first time in forever_

_Feeling tons of pressure, gotta make it, and that's just what I'll do_'

"Aw, guys, that was really good" Will said when the song was over. "Nice job."

"Yay for singing!" Emma chimed.

They all laughed. The feeling they all had after they all sung a unplanned sporadic song like that was quite indescribable. They were all connected and free and felt so powerful. Like nothing could stop them. Nothing was in their way. No challenge was too hard for them.

"That was decent but if you hippies start singing out loud again, I guarantee my departure because I'm pretty sure cars slowed down. I refuse to be seen with you" Sue said in snarky tone.

Will laughed just to clear the air. "Well, we'd better get going if we wanna make it back before the day ends."

So they walked back down the busy streets the way they had come, seeing things differently in the dark.

They arrived back at the mall they had shopped at to find the large bus waiting for them.

"Hey, Tina, Santana" Rachel muttered in a low voice so only the two other girls could hear. "Is our prank plan for Puck still a go?"

"Yes!" Tina said, as they walked towards the bus.

"I already checked, we have duct tape at the cottage" Santana said in a whisper.

"Now we gotta make sure everyone's in on it" Rachel said.

"Tomorrow we'll start telling people. We just gotta make sure their alliance is with us and Puck doesn't hear" Santana said.

"They'll all agree. We all enjoy a good prank" Tina confirmed. "This will rule!"

The girls laughed and climbed on the bus, glad to finally unload their shopping bags.

Kurt was the last to board the bus.

"Kurt! Come sit here with me! I saved you a seat" Blaine called hopefully to him.

Kurt, nodded, smiled and sat down next to him as the bus began to move.

* * *

**A/N**

**Thanks to _azebra117_ for the neat song suggestion. :)**

**Anyways, I hope y'all liked the Canadian stuff I threw in. Gotta represent my peeps, ya know? Hahaha anyways, this was just a feel-good chapter, but get ready for some drama and the prank! :) **

**Anyways, I know they only have 3 days left, but I'll try to squeeze anything you want, so hit me up with any suggestions, whether or songs, plots, jokes, anything :P**


	32. Chapter 32

When the they arrived back at the cottage, it was both dark and late. Brittany had fallen asleep on the bus, but it must have been a power nap because she was now super hyper.

"Let's go swimming! Let's ride bikes! Let's play a game! Let's do jumping jacks!" she said when they got inside the cottage.

Will sighed and rubbed his face. "It's almost midnight. Why can't you guys just sleep?"

"We're teenagers. Sleep is for mornings" Quinn laughed.

"We only have three more days. Do you really wanna spend a majority of it sleeping?" Will asked warily.

No one really answered that.

"Just don't stay up too late" he said and the three adults departed for the bunkhouse.

"Let's put on our jammies!" Tina said as soon as the adults were gone.

"I'm a man!" Puck said strongly. "Men don't wear 'jammies'."

"Fine! Go put on your manly sleep attire" Tina rolled her eyes.

So they all changed into their pyjamas and sat down around the room. Some of them looked like they were about to fall asleep on the spot, but others, like Brittany, were wide awake and grinning.

"Now what?" Santana demanded.

"Let's play a game" Rachel suggested.

"Okay let's go classic, Truth Or Dare?" Mercedes suggested. "That game never gets old."

"Okay, me first" Mike declared.

"Hold on!" Sugar shouted. "Let me get comfortable and warm."

They all shuffled around, getting into their sleeping bags or under blankets or cuddling with someone.

"Kurt, bring your cute self and that blanket and get over here" Blaine said.

Kurt nodded and dragged the orange blanket over, sitting next to Blaine, who hugged him.

"Are we all ready, then?" Mike asked. When he got several nods, he started. "Okay, Artie, Truth or Dare?"

"Truth" Artie responded right away.

"If you were forced to get a tattoo, where would you get it and what would it say?" Mike asked him.

"I'd probably get one on my bicep and it'd be probably a dragon, going around my arm" Artie said. "Finn, Truth or Dare?"

"I'm feeling brave so Dare" Finn answered.

"Okay, I dare you to go knock on the bunkhouse door" Artie said with a smirk.

"No way!" Finn shook his head. "Coach Sylvester would murder me."

"Yeah, that's not a good idea" Quinn said, backing Finn up. "Artie, give him a new dare."

"Fine. Um, I dare you to go outside and howl like a wolf" Artie said.

"Okay" Finn got up, and went outside on to the porch. He went down the steps towards the beach, but stopped on the lawn. Everyone inside moved toward the window to watch.

Finn shivered then noticed them all watching. He waved. Then he cupped his hands around his mouth.

"HOOOOUUUUUUUWWWWW" Finn howled into the night. He grinned at the onlookers in the window then raced back inside.

"Mission complete" Finn said, hurrying back to his sleeping bag to get warm.

"Okay, Finn, ask someone" Sam said, sitting back down.

"Tina. Truth or Dare?" Finn asked her.

"Truth" Tina said slowly, as if he wasn't sure of her answer.

"If you were lesbian, which girl, in this room, would you have a crush on?" Finn asked.

Tina giggled. "No offence to any of you girls, because I love you all, but I guess I'd say Quinn."

Quinn blinked. "Thanks...I think."

"Tina, why wouldn't your lesbian self like me?" Rachel demanded.

"That has gotta be the weirdest question I've ever heard" Blaine murmured.

"Alright, Sam, Truth or Dare?" Tina asked.

"Truth" Sam said. "Ask me who my lesbian crush is!"

"And that would be the weirdest sentence" Blaine added, to which Kurt snickered.

"Sam, which teacher at school is the hottest?" Tina asked.

"Ew!" Sam groaned. "All the female teachers are old and ugly!"

"She didn't say female teacher" Puck pointed out.

Sam frowned at him. "Ugh, okay, Mr. Hunts, that junior business teacher is okay looking as far as dudes go."

"He is!" Sugar nodded.

"Okay, Santana, your turn. T or D?"

"Dare" Santana answered confidently.

"I dare you to do a non-verbal impression of someone in this room. But don't tell us who" Sam said.

Santana stood up and glanced at all of them, a wicked grin on her face. When she had decided on her person, she moved to an open space. Then she kneeled down, but tried to stretch as tall as she could from her knees. She ran a hand over her hair several times and smiled widely. She then pretended to tug on something at the base of her neck.

"Blaine!" Mercedes shouted. "It's Blaine!"

Santana laughed. "Yup."

Blaine, who had obviously clued in a while ago, was glaring at her with crossed arms. "I found that very offensive."

"I think that was the idea" Santana said, highfiveing Rachel on her way back to her seat. "Lady Hummel, Truth or Dare?"

"Truth" Kurt answered.

"Name all the guys in this room that you had a crush on" Santana replied right away.

Kurt blushed and buried his face in his hands. "I'd really rather not."

"Come on, Kurt. Share the truth" Brittany said.

Kurt sighed, knowing there was no way out. He took a deep breath. "Well, obviously to start, Blaine. And then... Finn and Sam."

Mercedes giggled. "I don't know why you made him say it, everyone knew."

"Yeah, Kurt was so blatantly obvious with his crushes" Tina said. "You practically laid claims on Sam before any of the girls did."

Sam looked both flattered and creeped out.

"Even the person Kurt was crushing on knew" Mercedes continued. Then she turned at looked at Blaine, who was blushing his own shade of red. "Well, except Blaine."

"What do you mean?" Rory asked, looking between Mercedes, Kurt and Blaine.

"Kurt had a really, really obvious crush on Blaine for ages and Blaine had no idea" Mercedes explained.

Blaine groaned, very embarrassed. "I'll never hear the end of it, will I?"

"Oh, Blaine, we're just teasing" Rachel said, reaching over and patting Blaine's arm.

"Let's continue the game, guys" Brittany said loudly. "Kurt, go."

"Blaine" Kurt said with a smug grin. "Truth or Dare?"

"Truth" he said thoughtfully.

"Did you, at any point, have feelings for Sebastian?" Kurt asked slowly.

"I hate hate feelings around the time of the slushie" Blaine chuckled.

"We all did. He means romantic feelings" Artie said.

Blaine looked guilty. "I wouldn't say 'romantic'. I mean, he wasn't ugly, you know. And I suppose his confident personality was alluring. But that was when I first met him. Then I realized he was a bit arrogant and rude."

"So what you're saying is, yes, you did have feelings" Quinn said.

"I guess so, yeah" Blaine admitted. "Brittany, Truth or Dare?"

"Dare" Brittany said.

"I dare you to lick ketchup off Finn's face" Blaine said, after thinking about it for a while.

Mercedes went to the kitchen and came back with a bottle of ketchup. She squirted a blob of it onto Finn's cheek.

Brittany crawled over to him and easily licked all the ketchup off.

"Ugh" she said, making a face. "The worst part isn't Finn's face, it's how nasty ketchup tastes by itself."

"Mustard is worse" Joe said.

"Darn, I should have said mustard, then" Blaine grinned.

Brittany went back to her seat. "Puck. Truth or Dare?"

"Dare, baby. I'm not scared" Puck said with a smirk.

"I dare you to put on one if my bikinis" Brittany said. "Top and bottom."

"Fine but the bottoms are going over my bottoms" Puck said.

Brittany hurried to the other room where the luggage was stored and returned with a yellow and green striped bikini. She tossed it to Puck, who caught it. He stalked off to the bathroom.

He retuned a few minutes later. The bikini top didn't fit his toned chest very well and rode up higher than it should be. The bottoms were also not fitting properly. It didn't help that his boxers were bunched up underneath.

"Do I work them or what?" Puck said proudly. They were all giggleing.

"What" Finn answered. "Definitely what."

"Wow, Puck, I'm turning straight for you" Santana said sarcastically.

Mercedes held up her camera, taking several pictures.

"I'm cold now, can I take this off?" Puck asked. He turned and walked back to the bathroom, but not before striking another pose.

When Puck retuned, he tossed the bikini back to Brittany then nodded at Joe. "Truth or Dare?"

"Truth" Joe said.

"What's the biggest lie you've ever told?" Puck asked.

"Oh, I've never lied" Joe said. "I consider that a sin."

"Never?" Finn asked. "Never ever?"

"Nope. Honesty and truth is what I stand by" Joe told them all.

"Well, okay then. Pick someone" Tina said.

"Sugar" Joe said. "Truth or Dare?"

"Dare" Sugar said.

"I dare you to drink a glass of pickle juice" Joe said.

Sugar made a face. "Ew, really?"

Joe smiled and nodded.

"But that's so gross. Come on, can't I lick Finn's face or something?"

"Hey! Why is my face always offered to be licked?" Finn demanded. "Shouldn't I get a say on whose tongue is on my face?"

"No, shut up, Finn" Santana said.

"Santana, be nice" Rachel said warningly.

"A dare is a dare, Sugar" Sam said. "Bring on the juice!"

So Joe got up and went to the kitchen. He poured a glass half full of yellow-green dill pickle juice and walked back to Sugar.

"Ew" Sugar whined, taking the glass from him.

"It's not that bad" Rory said to his girlfriend.

"You only like it because it's green!" Sugar said to him.

"Drink! Drink! Drink! Drink!" Brittany started a chant, which they all joined it.

So Sugar took a deep breath and chugged the whole glass.

She slammed down the glass on the coffee table and stuck out her tongue.

"Gah! That was gross" she announced. "Ugh!"

"Well it's over now" Quinn said. "Take your turn."

"Rachel, T or D?" Sugar asked, still making a face at the drink.

"Truth" Rachel answered.

"How many times have you and Finn done IT?" Sugar asked.

"I'm not answering that" Rachel said.

"Girl, I had to drink pickle juice so..." Sugar glared at her.

"No, see, that's not personal" Finn jumped in. "Give Rachel a new question."

"I agree with Finchel on this one" Kurt said.

"Fine. Rachel, have you ever had a girl crush, and if yes, on who?" Sugar asked.

"No, I haven't" Rachel said. "I'm not just saying that, either. I actually haven't."

"Fair enough. Rachel, your turn" Tina said.

"Mercedes, Truth or Dare?" Rachel grinned at Mercedes.

"Truth."

"What's the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you?" Rachel asked.

Mercedes chuckled. "Well, when I was nine, my mom took me bra shopping. We went to the GAP and when we were there, we ran into this kid from school, Todd. I had a huge crush on Todd. Anyways, Todd and I were talking and my mom didn't know, so from across the store, she yells 'Mercedes, do you like this pink zebra bra?' My crush on Todd ended soon after that because he went to school calling me 'Bra-cedes'."

Everyone was dying of laughter. Quinn's face was red from laughing and Sam was literally rolling on the floor.

"I don't see what's so funny here" Mercedes said, but she was smiling. "I lived through that."

That was met with another round of laugter.

"And I swear, if you guys ever call me that, I will hurt you" Mercedes added, crossing her arms, but she still giggled.

The laughing soon died down and the game was able to continue.

"Rory! Truth or Dare?" Mercedes asked loudly, pointing at him.

"Dare" he said bravely. He had too many embarrassing stories to share and hoped to avoid telling any of them.

"I dare you to go get your suitcase and show us every green thing you brought" Mercedes said.

Rory grinned. "That may take a few hours."

Tina snapped her fingers in the direction of the suitcase storage room. "Go!"

So Rory got up and came back dragging his suitcase. Even the suitcase had green ribbing on the edge. He unzipped it and opened it up.

"Er, okay, well, I have this green shirt" he held it up. "And this one. And this one, too. Oh, and this belt. This watch, this belt. Here's another shirt."

Overall, he had seven shirts, two belts, one pair of pants, three pairs of shorts, eight pairs of socks, one hoodie, a baseball cap, a toothbrush, a small comb and a tube of toothpaste all in green or with prominent green on it.

"You're so weird" Santana commented as he stuffed it all back in the suitcase.

"Thanks!" Rory said to her. "Quinn, Truth or Dare?"

"Truth" Quinn answered.

"Who, in this room, do you hate the most?" Rory asked. "And you have to answer this, you can't say 'no one'."

Quinn looked around the room at them all. "I guess I'd have to say... Santana. No offence, I mean you and me are besties and I love you, but sometimes you're just so rude and sassy and it bugs me. But seriously though, I don't really hate any of you."

"That's cute" Santana said. "If I had to pick, I hate you the most too." She grinned at Quinn.

Quinn grinned back at her. "Cool."

"Well, it looks like we've all had a turn, except Mike, who started it" Rachel said, looking at them all.

"So Mike, Truth or Dare?" Quinn asked him.

"I'll end it with a bang. Dare!"

"I dare you to go kiss Rachel" Quinn said, with a head nod towards Rachel.

Mike shrugged and went over to Rachel. He grabbed her head and quickly planted a kiss on her lips.

"And we're done!" Puck said at the end.

"Please tell me we're not playing another whole round" Finn said, yawning and therefore causing six others to yawn too.

"Nah, I'm dead tired" Mercedes said.

So they turned off the lights and got snuggled into their sleeping bags.

"Goodnight!" Kurt said loudly to them all, getting a few mumbled "g'night"s in return.

"I love you!" Tina said to them.

"Love you too" Kurt and a few others replied. And those were the last words spoken all night.

* * *

**A/N**

**I completely SUCK at Truth or Dare. If you read The ND Trip, I had them play the game twice, I think. And the second time, when they were in the hotel in Orlando, I actually downloaded an app because I'm awful at coming up with these questions. But this time, for the chapter you just read, I thought these up all by myself so I am now accepting highfives. *Holds up hand eagerly***

**I don't really have that much to say now so...how are your lives going? This may sound a bit weird, but if you ever need someone to talk to or just a friendly shoulder to cry on, I'm here for you. You can PM me or Tweet me at AVeryMagicGleek **

**Anyways, byeeeeeeee! Love you and thanks for reading and reviewing!**


	33. Chapter 33

A bright warm sun greeted them as they woke up.

"What a glorious day!" Mercedes said loudly as they all slowly got out of their sleeping bags.

"We must go swimming today" Finn said, staring out the window at the sparkling lake. There were gentle waves that softly crashed to shore.

"Breakfast!" Will called from the kitchen, where the smell of bacon was wafting out from.

They scampered to grab a plate and when they were loaded up with eggs, bacon and toast, they settled down to eat.

"Mr. Schue, you make the best bacon!" Santana said, stealing another strip from Mike, who frowned in protest.

Will beamed. "Thanks!"

"Yo, Rach, you want a bit?" Artie asked, holding up a crispy strip of bacon.

Rachel glared at him. "I don't appreciate your rudeness. You know I'm a vegan."

"But it smells so good, yeah?" Artie waved it around her face.

Without responding, Rachel grabbed the bacon and threw it across the room. It landed on the floor near Sam.

"Is it raining bacon?" Sam grinned. "All my dreams have come true!" He picked it up and ate it.

"Ew, Sam, that's so nasty" Mercedes rolled her eyes.

"Hey, Meredith is here" Blaine said and they all looked to the door where Meredith was stepping onto the porch.

"Andy's not with her" Quinn said slowly.

But Meredith smiled when she saw them all looking at her.

Sue let her in.

"Hello" Meredith said brightly.

"You're here early" Emma commented as Meredith kicked off her hightop sneakers.

"Well, I wanted to make sure I caught you guys before you disappeared. I came by yesterday and you guys were gone" Meredith explained.

"That's because we went to Winnipeg" Kurt said. "Shopping trip."

"Oh cool" Meredith said.

"We even tried some Tim Hortons" Sugar said.

Meredith grinned. "I love Tim's! Too bad it's not near Christmas because they have these kick-butt candy cane donuts."

"I had this donut with stawberry jam in the center" Artie said.

"Oh yeah. That's Andy's favourite" Meredith nodded.

"Good morning, Meredith" Will said, coming out of the kitchen.

"Hi" Meredith smiled at him.

"Are you hungry? I think we have some extra bacon. Unless Santana and Sam are gonna devour it first" Will said.

Santana grinned cheekily but Sam bowed his head in embarrassment.

"Nah, I'm okay" Meredith said.

"Some toast? Egg?"

"Well, I guess I could go for some toast" Meredith said. "But just one piece."

Will nodded and disappeared in the kitchen and came back with a buttery slice of toast on a plate.

"Thanks" she said to him then looked at the teens. "Anyways, the reason I'm here is because my mom wanted to meet you all and also thank you for helping us find Andy so you guys are all invited to a barbecue at our cottage tonight."

"Really? That sounds great" Blaine said.

"How is Andy? Is he okay?" Tina asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, he's fine. We sat him down and talked to him and it's all good" Meredith said, nodding.

"That's great" Mercedes said.

"So you'll all come over for dinner, then?" Meredith asked them with a smile.

"Of course" they all answered.

"You guys too" Meredith said to Will and Emma.

"We can't wait" Emma said.

Meredith stood up and handed her empty plate to Will. "Thanks for the toast. I best be going. Andy and I are gonna go try and get the boat from Elk Island."

"Do you want us to help?" Finn asked.

"No, no, no. You guys are on vacation. You don't have to spend it helping us all the time" Meredith said with a smile.

"Alright, well, we'll probably be heading to the beach this afternoon so you guys should come down and hang" Mercedes said.

"Yeah maybe. Anyways, see you tonight. Say, five thirty-ish?"

"Sure. Good luck with the boat!" they called as Meredith slipped on her shoes and left the cottage, dashing across the dewy lawn.

* * *

"We're going to The Moonlight Inn for lunch today, right?" Kurt asked Mr. Schuester.

He nodded. "Yup. But it's only ten now."

"You guys should go into Town now though" Emma suggested.

"Might as well" Brittany said, standing up.

So they all put on their shoes and sunglasses and some sunscreen and headed outside.

"I wish we had a soccer ball so we could go play soccer at the field" Puck sighed as they walked onto the road.

"Maybe Meredith and Andy have one. I'll go see if we can borrow one" Blaine said, running into the lot next to theirs.

He returned a few minutes later with a red and white soccer ball.

"Meredith and Andy weren't there, but their mom gave me this. She's nice" Blaine explained.

So they headed to Town, stopping at the small store to buy a bunch of candy.

"Hey, have you told any one about the P-R-A-N-K?" Tina whispered to Rachel as they exited the store.

"No. But I will" Rachel replied.

They sat at the park, munching away on candy and chatting.

"Hey Blaine, my pranking partner in crime" Rachel said quietly to him and Kurt, who were sitting on the swings.

Blaine's eyes lit up at this title. "Hey Rachel. What's doing?"

"Well, me, Tina and Santana are planning a prank. But we need everyone's help" Rachel said.

"I'm in" Kurt said right away and Blaine nodded.

Rachel smirked. "Okay so the target is Puck and the idea is that on the last day, we're gonna get up really early and hide all of our things and eventually ourselves so it looks like we've left. We're also gonna duct tape Puck in his sleeping bag as a bit of a struggle. He's get up and once he's free from the tape, realize we're gone and think we left for Lima without him."

"Brilliant" Kurt breathed.

"He'll freak" Blaine grinned.

"That's the idea. Anyways, mum's the word, okay?" Rachel held out a pinkie, wanting them to promise and they quickly did.

She grinned and hurried off.

At the same time as she was explaining the prank plan to Kurt and Blaine, Santana was across the park explaining it to Mercedes, Quinn, Sugar and Brittany.

"Alright listen up ladies" Santana said, joining them in the shade of a tree. "I'm gonna let you in on a prank."

"Oooh okay" Sugar smiled. "Unless it's on me, then boo."

"Is it on Lord Tubbington? Because his revenge is mean" Brittany said.

"No, no. It's on Puck" Santana said.

"Why him?" Quinn asked curiously.

"Tina wanted revenge for when he splashed her" Santana said.

"Wow she can really hold a grudge" Mercedes laughed. "But I'm in. Puck's a great victim."

"Right. Okay, so keep this on the DL. On the last day we're here, we're gonna get up early and hide all our stuff and leave the cottage so it looks like we've left for the airport without him. On top of that, we're gonna duct tape him into his sleeping bag so it'll be hard for him to get out" Santana said with a wicked grin.

"That's genius" Mercedes smiled.

"Everyone's gotta know about it" Quinn said.

"Yeah, Tina, Rachel and I are in the process of telling people. So keep your yaps shut, got it?" Santana said. "Seriously, don't say anything to anyone."

The girls nodded.

Santana stood up. "Coolbeans. Well, I'm gonna go. Sam's got his back turned and his boxers are showing so I'm gonna go give him a wedgie."

"I love you" Brittany said to her.

Santana turned and smiled at her girlfriend. "I love you too, Britt."

* * *

After a while they got restless. So they headed down to the field for some soccer. They split up evenly. Finn, Quinn, Artie, Mike, Kurt, Sugar, Rory and Brittany played against Joe, Rachel, Tina, Blaine, Sam, Puck, Santana and Mercedes. The game was fun. They ran up and down the field, playfully tackling each other and at one point, Finn picked up the ball and carried down the field in his arms before throwing past Mercedes into the net, which wasn't a net, it was just goal posts.

There were some spectacular moves performed. Brittany headed the ball into the net

At the moment, Santana had managed to kick the ball away from Kurt and passed it to Puck who carried it down the field.

"Pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass" Santana yelled energetically at him, running down alongside him.

In his peripherals, Puck saw Brittany coming at him so he passed it across to Santana, who swiftly kicked it past Mike and Artie into the net. After highfiving Puck, Santana ran around the field, highfiving everyone on her team and shouting insults at the other team.

"Bam! In yo' face, Finn" she screamed. "We're gonna crush you! Hey Artie, got your glasses on? Because you're a lousy goalie."

"I'm in a wheelchair" Artie protested.

"Quinn, you run like you're preggers" Santana shouted. "Boo-yeah!"

"Santana, how much candy did you eat?" Blaine asked with a laugh.

Mike kicked the ball back onto the field. "Who made these teams? It's rigged I say, rigged!"

"You're just jealous" Tina shouted at him.

As they got back in the play, three people approached.

"Hey guys!" Will called, accompanied by Emma and Sue. "We thought you'd be at the park."

"Nah, we're in a really, really intense game of soccer" Rachel said.

"Wanna play?" Kurt asked.

Will looked at Emma. "I'm in if you are."

Emma glanced down at her feet and smiled. "Lucky I wore good shoes."

Will clapped his hands once loudly. "Okay, which team?"

"Mr. Schue is on our team!" Mercedes yelled.

Sam shrugged. "We're up by a lot so okay. Come on Ms. P. You can be with the winners."

"Coach Sylvester, are you going to play?" Blaine asked.

"No, John Travolta, I'm not. I'm with child" Sue said putting her hands protectively on her stomach. She was showing quite a lot. Sue moved to the side of the field to watch.

So Will and Emma went on the field and took their positions. Will bounced on the balls of his feet. Like expected, Will was more into the game than Emma and didn't screech when the ball almost hit his head. But Emma had a good kick.

After twenty minutes of fun game play, Santana's team was still winning, but not by as much as before.

"Woah, okay" Will said, puffing for breath when the ball had rolled off the field and Sugar had gone scampering off to retrieve it. "That's enough game for me."

"This is most excersise I've had in a while" Emma agreed. "I'm done too."

"You're a good soccer player, Mr. Schue" Finn said with a smile.

Will shrugged bashfully. "I was a bit of a jock when I was your age."

"I thought you were in a Glee club" Rachel pointed out.

"Yeah, I did both" Will said.

"It was cool to do both?" Puck asked incredulously.

Will nodded. "Yeah, I guess. But I didn't care if it was or not, I did both because I liked both. That's what mattered to me. I didn't let the judgemental people control me. You guys focus too much on others' opinions, and that's not good. You guys gotta be proud of who you are and what you do."

"How is it that everything turns into a big life lesson?" Tina sighed to Blaine.

Blaine shrugged with a smile.

"Are we getting lunch now?" Rory asked.

Will nodded. "Yup. Grab the ball and let's go."

Mike picked up the ball and they went back through the trees to the clearing where the building they where they were headed: The Moonlight Inn.

* * *

**A/N**

**Hello Gleeks. I'm sorry I've been updating every second week instead of every week. There are days when I have awful writer's block and when I don't, I'm super lazy. :S I'm sorry. But I'll try and get the next chapter up next week. **

**I love you all and don't forget it! :) *sends internet hugs***


	34. Chapter 34

Luckily for them, Moonlight Inn wasn't busy. They strolled in and took seats at the booths.

"Kurt, sit here!" Blaine said, beckoning Kurt over.

"This is snug" Rachel said as she slid onto a booth seat next to Finn.

Will didn't want them going to the upper floor because "knowing them, they'd try jumping down to this floor from up there."

After Will and Emma had explained into the Moonlight Inn workers that they're in charge of the teens and also handle the money, they were all seated and ready to be served.

"If you're at a place like this and you don't order a burger, I'm seriously judging you" Kurt said as he skimmed the menu.

"But I thought you didn't like burgers because they're grease soaked fatty slabs of processed meat" Finn said, making air quotes with his fingers. There was a slight accusing tone in his voice and everyone guessed that there had been many arguments in the Hummel-Hudson household about burgers.

"Finn, look where we are! In a fifties-style diner! I don't care what I'm eating as long as I fit in. I must fit it!" Kurt exclaimed.

"Said Kurt for the first time ever" Mercedes laughed.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "I don't need your sass, Mercedes. Just let me enjoy my burger as I pretend I'm with Sandy and Danny."

"Who?" Joe asked, looking around for these two new people.

The waitress took all their orders and left them to chat as they waited.

Tina glanced over her shoulder and saw Puck three booths away laughing as Sam stuck a straw up his nose. Then she turned to face the people in her booth. Those people were Mike, Quinn, Joe and Artie.

"Have you guys heard?" she leaned forward and whispered.

"Heard what?" Artie asked.

"About the prank" Tina said even quieter.

"I have" Quinn said with a sly smile. "Santana told the girls."

"Hold up!" Artie said. "What are you talking about?"

"Rachel, Santana and I have this really neat prank in the works" Tina said. "The target is Puck."

"I'm in" Mike said automatically.

Joe looked uneasy. "Is is legal?" He looked to Quinn.

"It's fine" Quinn said. "Tell them, Tina."

"Okay so we were thinking that on our last day, we were gonna wake up early and hide all our stuff and leave so when Puck wakes up, he'll be totally alone. He'll think we left already and he'll flip out!"

"Yo, that's sick!" Artie grinned.

"But tell them the other part" Quinn prompted Tina.

Tina slapped the table excitedly. "Oh yeah! Okay so in addition to that, we were gonna duct tape him into his sleeping bag so it'll be a struggle to get out!"

Mike laughed. "Brilliant. Totally brilliant."

Joe smiled. "It's a lot of work."

Tina nodded. "It is. That's why Santana, Rachel and I are trying to discreetly let you all know. We need help."

"Well count me in" Artie said. "This will be perfect."

"You in?" Tina looked at Joe.

"Yeah" Joe nodded. "Of course."

Tina beamed. "Awesome! Okay, so keep this quiet, okay? We can't let Puck hear or even suspect anything."

"No worries" Mike said. "Our lips are sealed."

Artie and Joe nodded eagerly.

Quinn smirked. "Puck won't know what hit him!"

* * *

"How's lunch, guys?" Will called at the teens that filled the booths.

"Great."

"Good."

"Fine."

"I'm still hungry."

"How's your burger, Kurt?" Blaine asked.

Kurt smiled. "As far as burgers go, this is pretty good."

"Does that jukebox work?" Rachel asked the waitress as she came around to take some of the empty plates.

"Yes" she answered.

Rachel pulled out a quarter from her pocket and hopped over to the dusty jukebox in the corner.

"Play Journey!" Will called to her.

"No!" several of them shouted at him and Rachel.

"Here's one I think we'll all like" Rachel said as she clicked the button to flip the song page.

"I swear, if this is a Broadway song..." Santana muttered threateningly.

"It's not" Rachel said to her and pressed the button to make the song play.

Rachel started singing first, glad to have a few solo lines, and once everyone else recognized the song, they sang along too.

_'What would you think if I sang out of tune,_

_Would you stand up and walk out on me._

_Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song,_

_And I'll try not to sing out of key._

_Oh I get by with a little help from my friends,_

_Mmm,I get high with a little help from my friends,_

_Mmm, I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends._

_What do I do when my love is away._

_(Does it worry you to be alone)_

_How do I feel by the end of the day_

_(Are you sad because you're on your own)_

_No, I get by with a little help from my friends,_

_Mmm, get high with a little help from my friends,_

_Mmm, gonna to try with a little help from my friends_

_Do you need anybody?_

_I need somebody to love._

_Could it be anybody?_

_I want somebody to love._

_Would you believe in a love at first sight?_

_Yes I'm certain that it happens all the time._

_What do you see when you turn out the light?_

_I can't tell you, but I know it's mine._

_Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends,_

_Mmm I get high with a little help from my friends,_

_Oh, I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends_

_Do you need anybody?_

_I just need someone to love._

_Could it be anybody?_

_I want somebody to love_

_Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends,_

_Mmm, gonna try with a little help from my friends_

_Ooh, I get high with a little help from my friends_

_Yes I get by with a little help from my friends,_

_with a little help from my friends'_

Everyone else in the restaurant was quiet and stared as the teens passionately sang along. Even the cooks and staff stood still and watched in awe.

At the end of the song, they got a polite round of claps.

"That was fantastic" their waitress said with a smile.

"Thanks" Rachel said. "We're a show choir."

"That'd explain it."

"We're more than a show choir" Finn said. "We're Nationals champs!"

Brittany whooped.

"Are you now? That's cool" the waitress said before she walked off to serve another booth upstairs.

"I knew I shouldn't have come here with you guys. Did I not say that I forbid singing?" Sue fumed.

"No, I don't recall you saying that" Blaine said.

"It shouldn't need to be said" Sue retorted.

"I'm really sorry about that" Will apologized to the waitress when she came around again. "They have to learn that they can't just sing in public whenever they feel."

The waitress smiled. "Oh, it's not a problem. They were superb. And I don't think anyone else minded."

"We're getting ice cream, right Mr Schue?" Sam asked eagerly.

"It's super hot out" Sugar added. "We need it."

Will sighed and nodded. "Yeah, alright."

So the teens rushed across the restaurant to see the ice cream display.

"Faces off the glass" Mercedes said, smacking Rory and Finn's heads.

"Yes, they have mint!" Brittany cheered, looking at the tub of green ice cream.

"Mint is so gross" Mercedes said. "I can't stand it."

"Not even gum?" Tina asked.

"Not even. I only like fruity gum" Mercedes shrugged.

"But mint is so perfect" Brittany said. "I heard that unicorns smell like mint."

"Wait, what about toothpaste? All toothpaste is minty" Mike pointed out.

Mercedes smiled, showing her teeth which were perfectly white. "My daddy's a dentist. He gets me orange toothpaste."

"They make that?" Blaine asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah, but it's not really sold at stores in the states" Mercedes said.

"Do you have some with you?" Blaine asked.

"In my suitcase, I do."

"Great! Tonight, I wanna try some" Blaine smiled.

"Okay."

"Everyone ready to order?" Will asked them loudly.

They nodded and one by one got an ice cream cone.

After their lunch and ice creams were paid for, they went outside and sat in the shade of a few trees.

"I think Moonlight Inn was great" Rachel declared. "So cute and friendly."

"Too bad it's not a big branch. It'd do well" Quinn said.

"Nuh-uh" Artie shook his head. "Businesses would tear it up and change it. It'd conform and lose its best qualities. Bigger isn't always better."

"True" several of them agreed.

"So now what?" Rory asked. "Are we going to the beach?"

"Yes!" Finn yelled. "Yes we are."

"I think a beach day is a great idea" Emma agreed.

"Well then, let's head back to the cottage" Will said.

Most of the teens had finished their ice creams and the ones who hadn't hurriedly shoved the remaining bites into their mouth.

"Let's go!" Sam shouted and the teens took off running.

* * *

Because it was such a nice day, the beach was busy. When the large group of them stood at the top of the banks and looked down, they were surprised.

"Busy, busy, busy!" Sam said, impersonating the evil magician from Frosty The Snowman.

The sand was hot under their feet and the water was cold.

"Such a perfect day" Rachel sighed happily.

"I'm just glad I can wear a hot bikini again instead of a sweater like I have been the past few days" Sugar said, rubbing sunscreen on her arms. "Tans don't come if you're wearing a sweater."

They lay out their towels and sat down.

"This is the life" Santana sighed contently. "Me, my pals and the glorious sun."

"Preach" Mercedes sighed.

As the girls lay happily in the sun, the guys stood awkwardly to the side, making sure not to block the sun.

"I don't wanna tan" Puck said. "I wanna do something."

"We could play football" Artie suggested.

"We don't have a ball" Finn said glumly.

Artie reached into the little space under his wheelchair. "I brought one."

"Yes!" Mike highfived Artie. "You're the man!"

Sam snatched the ball from Artie and dashed to one of the only empty areas on the beach. "Okay let's play."

"Finn, you're on my team" Puck called.

"What? No fair, what if Finn wants to be on team Sam?" Sam asked, slinging his arm over Finn's shoulders in joking way.

"Too bad, I called it" Puck said. "Finn and I always play football together."

As the guys argued over whose team Finn would be on, Kurt walked back to the girls and sat down.

"Hello" he greeted.

"Hey Kurt" Rachel said. "I like your sunglasses."

"Thanks" Kurt said. "They look designer, yes?"

"Yeah" Tina nodded. "I think I saw a pair of them in a magazine."

"They're not. They look it, but I got them for a steal online" Kurt said proudly.

"Really? You're so good at finding bargains" Tina said.

"Thanks."

"Lemmie try them on" Mercedes said, taking them off Kurt's face and put them on hers. She grabbed her camera and took some pictures of herself.

"Selfie" Brittany called and tried to sneak herself in the background.

Mercedes looked at the pictures. "Ooh, I look good in these. I gotta get me a pair."

"I look better" Sugar said, putting Kurt's sunglasses on.

"No, I do" Brittany said, putting them on overtop her own.

The sight of Brittany with two pairs of sunglasses on caused all the girls and Kurt to laugh.

Mercedes took a picture.

"Kurt! Kurt, come play football. You're on my team" Blaine called to Kurt.

"In a minute" Kurt said to him.

"Booty call" Santana muttered and received a fistful of sand thrown at her.

"Give me those back" Kurt got his sunglasses back and put them on. "The sun in blinding."

"Kurt!" Blaine called again. "Come on!"

Kurt sighed and stood up. "I'm being beckoned. Goodbye and happy tanning."

"Bye Kurt!" Tina called and waved him off.

"Hey Santana" Brittany said. "Let's go walk along the beach."

Santana nodded and stood up. She took Brittany's hand and they walked down, walking close to the water so every once in a while, the waves would rush up along their feet.

"Santana, what are your plans next year?" Brittany asked, staring at a seagull on a rock.

Santana felt Brittany's hand tighten. "I thought Tina made us swear not to talk about the future on this trip."

"I know. But she's not here and I won't tell. I wanna know. It's been keeping me up at night."

Santana sighed. "Why?"

"Why do I wanna know or why can't I sleep?"

"Both."

"I wanna know because I love you and I don't want you doing nothing. And I've been up because I worry that you're gonna go to far away and leave me" Brittany said.

"I'd never leave you, Brittany" Santana said, stopping to stare meaningfully at her girlfriend.

"But you didn't say you'd stay" she pointed out.

"I didn't say it because I don't know. I don't know what I'm going to do. Part of me wants to stay with you. I'd get some job around Lima and be able to see you always. Part of me says I should go to Louisville. I have a scholarship and I could make something out of myself. And part of me says to go to LA or New York or somewhere and do something fun. Something that I want to do. But I don't know what to do" Santana admitted.

"What does your heart say?" Brittany inquired.

"I don't know."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't have it."

"Well who does?"

"You do. You stole my heart ages ago."

Brittany smiled and laughed. "Well there's a good chance that Lord Tubbington has it then. He's always stealing my things."

Santana smiled then took a deep breath. "But Brittany, no matter where I go or what I do, I won't leave you. Even if I'm not in Ohio, I'll still talk to you every day and visit you every chance I get. You're mine and nothing can change that."

They had stopped walking and were now standing face to face.

"I know. And if you being somewhere else means you're happy then I'm okay with that. I want you to be happy. I love you, Santana" Brittany said, staring into Santana's dark eyes.

Santana blushed a bit. "I love you too." Santana leaned forward and kissed Brittany. Brittany stepped even closer so they were pressed against each other.

When they stepped back from each other, Brittany's cheeks were red and her eyes were wide.

"We should get the gang and go swimming" Brittany said.

"I agree" Santana took Brittany's hand again and they ran back towards their site.

* * *

An hour later, they were all in the water. They were playing Monkey In The Middle, but to make things a bit easier, there were five of them in the middle.

The adults were on the beach now and were enjoying the sun. Sue and Will, oddly enough, had brought a deck of cards down and were playing an unnaturally civil game cards. Emma was reading a thick book.

The teens came back to shore a bit later. They had gotten bored of their games and Joe and gotten accidentally hit in the face with the ball. When they were back on the sand, they sat wrapped up in their towels.

"Hey, it's Meredith" Sam said, spotting Meredith and Andy farther down the beach.

"Hey! Meredith! Andy! Hey!" Mercedes called to them.

Meredith looked up at them and waved with a smile. Andy stood by her and simply stared at the teens.

They hurried over, still holding their towels for warmth.

"Hello" Meredith greeted them all, running a hand through her hair.

"Hey Andy" Blaine said.

"Hi" Andy said meekly.

"Coming to hang at the beach?" Quinn asked. "It's a perfect day."

Meredith smiled. "Um, no. Andy and I are...doing something."

"Doing what?" Rachel asked.

"It's a secret surprise" Andy piped up with a smile.

Meredith nodded. "So we gotta go. But we'll see you tonight, yes?"

"For sure" Finn nodded.

"Right, well, see you then" Meredith said.

The teens said goodbye and moved back to their space.

"What are they doing?" Rory asked, watching as Meredith and Andy, who were father down the beach looking at a pile of small boulders. They watched as Andy pointed at a rock and together, he and Meredith picked it up.

"Do they need help?" Puck asked.

"I think they've got it" Quinn said. "The bigger question is why they are picking it up."

Meredith and Andy carefully carried the rock to the stairs and then slowly up the stairs to the top of the sand banks. The slowly disappeared in the trees and weren't seen again.

"Random" Santana said.

Blaine got up and moved to sit next to Kurt. "Hey Kurt."

Kurt, who was engrossed in a conversation with Mercedes about some book, turned quickly.

"Hey Blaine" he said then turned back to Mercedes. "The end of chapter nine was the biggest cliffhanger ever."

"I know! It was almost three in the morning but I just had to keep reading" Mercedes said.

Blaine rested his head on Kurt's shoulder. "What time is it?"

"I don't know" Kurt said. "Anyways, I have the sequel on hold at the library."

"So do I" Mercedes said. "I'm position fifteen, though so I might as well just buy the book."

"It's almost four forty five, Blaine" Mike said.

"Thanks" Blaine nodded at him.

"Which means we should get going. We said we go to Meredith's around five thirty-ish and I have sand in the wrong places" Tina said, standing up.

* * *

**A/N **

**So how 'bout that finale last night? Pretty great, hmm? :P **

**I'm proud to announce that last chapter, I got my 100th review! :O So thank you sooooo much to everyone who made that 100 possible. I've never gotten that high so I'm so I'm so thrilled! :)**

**The song sang in this chapter is by the Beatles, if you wanted to know. **

**I've almost finished the next chapter so you'll deffo be seeing that next week. And I do mean NEXT week. And spoiler alert: drama!**

**Buh-byeeee!**


	35. Chapter 35

When they were all ready and wearing neat clothes, they paraded out of their lot and a few meters down to the lot next door. Andy had been watching from the window and as soon as he saw them all file on the property, he hurried away to probably tell Meredith.

Before they could knock on the door, Meredith swung the door open. She wore a dress today, the first one anyone from New Direction had ever seen her in. It was orange with light blue flowers. It went down to her knees and therefore, didn't hide the grubby running shoes she wore on her feet.

"Hello" Meredith said. "Come on in."

They went inside. The cottage was more modern and less rustic than the one they stayed in. Kurt looked envious. The layout, however, was the same so they knew their way around pretty well. Andy was sitting at the table. From another room, a middle aged lady with shoulder length salt-and-pepper brown hair hair came in. She had a huge smile on her face.

"Hi! Welcome! Oh my!"

"This is my mom" Meredith said.

"I'm Brenda" she said. "Call me Brenda. Oh my!" Brenda went around hugging every single one of them.

After her round of hugs were done, she stepped back and addressed them all. "I'm so glad you all could come. Meredith and Andy have told me so much about you guys. It's so neat that you guys came over here to little old VB for vacation. And I just wanted to meet you all. Especially since you guys so generously volunteered to help us out that fateful day. So thank you so much!"

Quinn started the clap first and they all joined in.

Brenda was almost in tears. "Now come on, I have burgers and hotdogs and sausages on the barbecue!"

They all went out the back door to the deck. It wasn't big enough for all of them so they moved on to the stretch of grass behind the house.

Will went up to Brenda and handed her a bag. "There's some extra hotdogs and stuff in here. I know we're a lot of mouths to feed and food goes fast with some of these guys. Also, one of us, Rachel, is a vegan so there's some special vegan burgers for her."

Brenda smiled gratefully at him. "Thank you so much!"

* * *

The smell of freshly grilled meat filled the air. Will offered to tend to the barbecue and served the food to perfection. They all sat around in mismatched patterns chatting. Meredith sat with a few of the girls and talked about hot male movie stars. Andy was sitting with the guys but wasn't talking much. Brenda moved between groups, trying to talk to everyone.

"Zac Effron is super hot" Rachel said. "I mean, he was attractive in High School Musical but now he's like super attractive."

Meredith nodded. "Just when you thought he couldn't get hotter, he does!"

"But you know who's even hotter than Zefron?" Kurt asked.

"I swear, if you say Robert Patterson, I will hit you. He is not hot, he's pale and creepy" Mercedes said.

"His character is" Tina said. "RPatz is pretty nice."

"And anyways, everyone knows Taylor Lautner is where it's at" Kurt said. "But who I was going to say is Channing Tatum."

"Yes" Quinn nodded. "Have you seen The Vow? Oh man, I cried so hard."

Meredith shrugged. "The ending sucked."

"It's based on real life" Santana said.

"I know, it just ended kinda fast" Meredith said.

"I agree" Sugar said.

Kurt stood up. "Be right back, I want another hotdog." He ran over to the barbecue. Emma was sitting near it and gave him another warm hotdog and a bun. Kurt put some mustard on, careful not to make a mess. He turned around, his hotdog fixed to perfection.

"Kurt!" Blaine called from where he sat with Joe and Sam. "Come sit over here."

Kurt looked over. "Can't, sorry. We're in the middle of discussing hot actors." He winked at Blaine and hurried back to his spot. Moment later, Blaine sat down near him just as the girls were arguing over who's hotter, Andrew Garfield or Logan Lerman.

* * *

"So you're the Guidance Councellor?" Brenda asked Emma, who was sitting with Will.

"I am" Emma said proudly.

"That's neat" Brenda said. "And you teach what?" she asked Will.

"Spanish. But next year I'm picking up some History classes" Will said.

"And music too, I assume" Brenda said.

"No, McKinley doesn't have music courses. We have clubs. I'm the coach of the Glee club."

"That sounds so neat. I love music. When I was in collage, my friends and I wanted to start a band, but after one gig, we decided to quit" Brenda said.

"Do you sing?" Will asked.

Brenda laughed. "No, I played keyboard. My first husband sang a bit. That's where Meredith gets it."

"Meredith sings?" Emma asked, surprised, as was Will.

"She can carry a tune" Brenda said. She covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh my, don't say anything to her. She doesn't like singing in public and she'd kill me if I told you."

"Don't worry" Will said. "We won't say anything."

Brenda smiled at him. "Thanks so much. So do you sing?"

Will nodded. "And rap."

Emma laughed. "Don't go telling people that."

Will smiled. "Okay. Yes, I do sing. I went to McKinley, the school, when I was young and I was in the Glee club and I loved it."

"That's so cool" Brenda said. "And do you sing?" she asked Emma.

"Not really."

"You can sing though" Will said. "She can."

At that moment Sue came back. She had been in the bathroom.

"What're we talking about, folks?"

"Singing" Emma said.

Sue rolled her eyes and sighed, but sat down just to be polite.

"Do you sing?" Brenda asked her.

"I do. I sang back up on Michael Jackson's second last album" Sue said.

Brenda's eyes widened. "Oh my. Did you really?"

"No, no, she didn't" Will sighed. "Sue is just really overdramatic. She can sing, though."

"You teach at the school too?" Brenda asked, a bit confused.

"I do. I'm the Cheerleading coach. I've got several Nationals wins under my belt."

"And that's not all you've got under your belt, eh?" Brenda laughed, motioning to the prominent baby bump.

Sue chuckled. "That's right."

"Oh my, you must be so excited. Is this your first? Do you know the gender? Are you excited?" Brenda spoke fast.

"It's my first and it's a girl. I am excited" Sue said. "But she's got some irregularities. Doc said she's got autism."

Brenda's face fell.

"But Sue will be a perfect mother. You see, her sister, Jean, had a disability and Sue practically raised her" Will added.

"That's right I did" Sue nodded.

"And at school, Sue's got a little disabled sidekick named Becky who absolutely idolizes Sue" Emma said.

"That's great" Brenda said. "Being a mother is fun. Sometimes it's hard, but it's worth it." She turned to Emma. "Do you have kids."

Emma shook her head. "Oh, no. I'm not married yet."

"But you're engaged" Will reminded her with a smile.

Emma held up her hand to show Brenda her ring.

Brenda saw the look of pride on Will's face. "I take it you're the man?"

Will nodded.

Brenda sighed. "That's so pretty. When's the wedding?"

"To be decided" Emma said.

Brenda smiled. "Neat."

* * *

"Let's play something" Sam said. "I need to run around."

"Then do it. And don't come back" Santana said.

Meredith giggled. "Okay, what would you like to play?"

"Football" Finn called.

"Yes!" Puck nodded.

"I'm okay with that" Meredith said eagerly. "But I don't think all of us want to play."

"What do you mean?" Mercedes asked.

"I can't see you girls playing football" Meredith said a bit quieter, glancing quickly at Sugar

Rachel laughed. "Well wouldn't you be surprised to know that most of us actually played football for our school team at one time or another."

Meredith did look surprised. She looked around at them with wide eyes.

"Raise your hands if you were on the football team" Quinn said.

Rachel, Tina, Mercedes, Kurt, Puck, Finn, Artie, Mike and Sam put a hand in the air.

Meredith looked at them in surprise. Her eyes darted from Kurt to Artie to Rachel mostly.

Quinn motioned to Santana, Brittany and herself. "And the three of us were Cheerleaders" Quinn said. "And Blaine played football at Dalton, am I correct?"

"Yeah, but I wasn't very good" Blaine shrugged.

"Wow. Okay, so any objections to playing football now?" Meredith asked.

No one said anything so she turned to Andy. "Go get the football, will you please?"

Andy nodded and hurried off to the front of the cottage.

"Oh, hey, did you manage to get your boat back?" Joe asked.

Meredith nodded. "Yes, we did."

"Good."

Andy came back holding an old brown football.

They cleared the area and although it was a bit cramped still, they began to play.

"Kurt's on my team!" Blaine called, moving to latch on to Kurt's arm. Kurt sighed.

"I'd say Finn's on my team but I don't think that's gonna happen" Puck said sarcastically.

"I just wanna be on the winning team!" Sugar said with a smirk.

Meredith ended up on a team with Sam, Rachel, Santana, Kurt, Blaine, Puck, Quinn, and Rory. She wasn't a bad player, either. She was fast. As for Andy, he was on the other team. He ran around with them, but stayed far enough away that he rarely come in contact with the ball. But when the ball came to him once, he really surprised them all. He had a moment to pick who he wanted to throw the ball to. Over across the 'field' Finn stood. If Finn could catch it, they'd probably get a touchdown. So Andy threw it. He had a perfect throw. The ball sailed over their heads in a perfectly firm spiral and Finn caught it with easy.

"Andy!" Finn gasped. "That was an epic throw!"

Andy blushed.

"Yo, that was tight!" Artie said, wheeling over to highfive him. "Do you play?"

"Nope" Andy said.

"Well dude, change that. You need to be on a team. You're good" Sam said.

Finn ran over and highfived Andy. "Awesome throw bro. Awesome."

"Thanks" Andy said.

"Andy, you should try out for the team at school" Meredith said.

Andy shrugged.

"Swear to us that you will" Mike said. "At least try."

Andy sighed. "Okay, fine, I'll try."

They all clapped.

"On with the game!" Blaine called and the game started up again.

* * *

An hour later, it was growing dark. The football game had ended and they had sat down in groups again.

"Hey, Kurt, some of the guys are going to walk down to the beach. Come on" Blaine said.

"No thanks" Kurt said.

"Come on" Blaine said, pulling Kurt to his feet.

"Nah, I don't feel like it" Kurt stood still.

"Aw, why not?"

"Dunno. I just don't want to."

"Come on Kurt" Blaine said, his voice getting a bit whinier.

"Blaine! I said I didn't want to. Can you stop being so freaking clingy?" Kurt's voice suddenly got sharper and all the teens around them were silent.

"I...I'm not" Blaine said quietly.

"Yes, you are. These past few days you have been really clingy and it's starting to get weird. The yesterday on the bus, then with the blanket, then when we ate lunch, then when we played football. And again when we played football here, and when we were eating dinner and finally now" Kurt listed. "What's your problem?"

Blaine was red. "Can we not do this here?"

"Why? Isn't that the whole point of being clingy? To get my attention. Well congrats, you've got a whole lot of it now" Kurt said, getting mad.

Blaine suddenly turned from embarrassed to just as mad at Kurt. The attention was on him and he wasn't going to shy away now.

"So what, you don't want to be around me?" Blaine demanded.

"Not when you're being like a child" Kurt replied without missing a beat. "I don't understand why you're doing this."

"I don't either considering you'd rather not hang out with me" Blaine said. "You know, Kurt, you should make the most of the time we have. Isn't that what this trip is about?"

"We have plenty of time to be around each other. I have other friends too, you know!" Kurt shouted.

By now the attention of the adults was caught too.

"Should I get involved?" Will asked Emma.

"No. It's a lovers' spat and they need to work it out themselves" Emma said. The adults ignored it and continued on with their conversation. But the teens however, watched in shock. No one dared to intervene.

"So your friends are more important than me?" Blaine asked, looking a bit hurt.

"Sometimes" Kurt admitted angrily. "Considering that next year, some of them will be across the country from me."

"But what about us? What distance will be separating us? I know we swore not to talk about it on this trip, but let's face it" Blaine said. "You're going to New York."

"Maybe. I don't even know if I got into NYADA" Kurt said, waving his arms.

"Even if you don't, you'll still be gone. New York is where you belong and you'll be there before you know it" Blaine pointed out. His anger had faded and was more sad. Tears were in his eyes but none fell.

"Look, is this that whole insecurity thing we dealt with a few months ago during Whitney Houston week?" Kurt demanded, as if Blaine was pathetic to bring it up again.

"Maybe it is" Blaine blushed angrily.

"Oh, so you don't trust what I said? Or what I said before Grad? Is that it, Blaine? You don't trust me so you make sure you're always with me to make sure I keep my word?"

"No! It's just...I...You don't know what I'm going through here" Blaine spat. One of his hands was in a tight fist as if he was trying to keep a hold on something. The other hand ran through his hair.

Kurt narrowed his eyes. "Enlighten me."

"I'm...scared that things will be different come September" Blaine said, his voice faltering.

"Well, it will" Kurt said harshly. "You're right."

"Bad different" Blaine added.

"Look, I can only tell you so much. You can choose to believe me or you can choose to be a clingy, whiney, little boy" Kurt said.

"Don't say that" Blaine looked hurt.

"You know what? I'll do better than that. I won't say anything to you again" Kurt shouted.

Blaine stared at him for a moment as if he couldn't believe what he just heard.

"Fine." Slowly, his fisted hands unfolded and with a choked sob, Blaine turned and stalked away towards the beach.

Kurt still stood in the middle of the lawn, frozen with anger. No one moved. No one spoke. Finally, after a moment, Sam moved and went after Blaine, afraid that in his anger he'd do something drastic like throw himself into the lake. Instead, Sam found Blaine simply sitting in the sand alone on the beach. The sun was setting and Blaine watched it fade to darkness as he mindlessly ran his fingers through the sand and let it fall gracefully from his hands. Sam stood at the top of the bank and just watched Blaine sit there.

Back at the party, slow conversation had resumed, but everyone kept glancing at Kurt and in the direction of the beach. Kurt had tired of standing so he sat back down grimly. The people around him knew him enough to know that there was no way he'd open up to them so they had no choice but to let him be. Mercedes simply put a hand on his arm and tried to calm him down and Rachel patted his knee comfortingly.

* * *

It was dark when Blaine returned. Sam led him back. By now Brenda had set up a small fire that they were all gathered around.

Blaine sat down unwillingly between Sam and Artie. He kept his eyes down all the time. Kurt, six people down from him, did too.

"I'm sorry we don't have any marshmallows for you to roast" Brenda said, sitting down next to Andy.

"It's okay" Quinn said politely. "We're not hungry anyways."

Suddenly Andy stood up with a sad face. "You're not?" he asked.

"Why?" Finn asked.

Meredith answered. "You see, the other day you guys mentioned that you tried Tim Hortons, and it got me thinking that you have a whole bunch of Canadian stuff to experience. So I did a bit of research and Andy and I have a small surprise for you. It's food related."

"Quinn may be full but I'm sure as heck not" Puck grinned.

"Bring on the surprise!" Sugar called.

Andy's face lit up and he ran into the house and came back with a small bag.

"Andy, tell them what it is" Meredith prompted.

"Well, in America you guys have Smarties, right?"

"Those round powdery candies that immature elementary school kids crush up and pretend to snort?" Rachel asked.

"Hey, it's not just elementary school kids" Finn said, elbowing Puck as they laughed.

Andy continued, "Yeah, well, in Canada, they're called Rockets. We have Smarties, but they're different candies." He held out the bag for them all to see. "Our Smarties are these little chocolate dots that have a thin candy coating. They're all different coloured and they taste awesome!"

"We figured you guys would wanna try them" Meredith said smiling.

"Heck yeah we would!" Artie said. "Bring on the Smarties."

So Andy went around and dumped a small pile of colourful candies into their open hands. The candies were about the size of their thumb nails and, as they all soon found out, tasted great.

"Oh my gosh. I need these in my life" Mercedes said, eating the rest of her handful in one go.

"They're good, aren't they?" Meredith laughed. "They're a fan favourite all around Canada."

Even Kurt and Blaine, who still had yet to say a word to anyone, enjoyed the candy.

"Thank you so much" Tina said. "These are so yummy."

"They're like little rainbow rocks. And they taste like a dream" Brittany said happily.

"Glad you're enjoying them" Meredith said.

"So you're a Glee club, eh?" Brenda said. "Let's hear you sing, then."

"Okay" Santana nodded. She looked at her friends. "I think I know a good song."

They nodded so she started singing and they joined it. Kurt managed to halfheartedly mouth along but Blaine didn't even move his lips.

'_Days like this I want to drive away_

_Pack my bags and watch your shadow fade_

_You chewed me up and spit me out_

_Like I was poison in your mouth_

_You took my light, you drained me down_

_That was then and this is now_

_Now look at me_

_This is the part of me that you're never gonna ever take away from me, no_

_This is the part of me that you're never gonna ever take away from me, no_

_Throw your sticks and stones_

_Throw your bombs and your blows_

_But you're not gonna break my soul_

_This is the part of me that you're never gonna ever take away from me, no_

_I just wanna throw my phone away_

_Find out who is really there for me_

_You ripped me off, your love was cheap_

_Was always tearing at the seams_

_I fell deep and you let me drown_

_But that was then and this is now_

_Now look at me_

_This is the part of me that you're never gonna ever take away from me, no_

_This is the part of me that you're never gonna ever take away from me, no_

_Throw your sticks and stones_

_Throw your bombs and your blows_

_But you're not gonna break my soul_

_This is the part of me that you're never gonna ever take away from me, no_

_Now look at me, I'm sparkling_

_A firework, a dancing flame_

_You won't ever put me out again_

_I'm glowing, oh woah oh_

_So you can keep the diamond ring_

_I never liked them anyway_

_In fact you can keep everything_

_Yeah, yeah_

_Except for me_

_This is the part of me that you're never gonna ever take away from me, no_

_This is the part of me that you're never gonna ever take away from me, no_

_Throw your sticks and stones_

_Throw your bombs and your blows_

_But you're not gonna break my soul_

_This is the part of me that you're never gonna ever take away from me, no_

_This is the part of me, no_

_This is the part of me, me, me, me, me, me, no_

_Throw your sticks and stones_

_Throw your bombs and your blows_

_But you're not gonna break my soul_

_This is the part of me that you're never gonna ever take away from me, no_'

Meredith and Andy had awe-stricken looks on their faces. Brenda's eyes were wide with enjoyment.

"Oh my!"

* * *

**A/N**

**I'm sorry to all you Klaine shippers. But I've been planning this for a while. It killed me to write it, but what's a ND fic if there's no drama? **

**If you haven't tried Smarties (the chocolate kind) I suggest you do your best to try some. Order some online or something IDK the point is, they're amazeballs. :) **

**I hope you all like Brenda, Meredith and Andy's mom. She was fun to write. **

**The song, if you didn't know is 'Part Of Me' by Katy Perry and it was suggested to me by ****_azebra117_**

**Well, that's it. I've been on a writing spree lately so I am almost done the next chapter too. Yay for ideas! :)**

**See you next time! :)**


	36. Chapter 36

It was almost 10 o'clock at night when New Directions and the adult chaperones bid goodnight to Meredith, Andy and Brenda. They thanked them profusely for their hospitality and vowed to stop by and say their final goodbyes before they left Victoria Beach.

They weren't tired at all. So they settled in for an evening of talking, TV and games.

Finn and Sam started watching Wheel Of Fortune on TV and shouting out their pathetic guesses, which eventually attracted most of the group's attention.

Some of the others were more refined in their activities. Blaine retreated to a corner of the farthest couch with a local newspaper from a few days ago. He wasn't really paying much attention to what he was reading anyways.

Quinn had brought a bunch of nail polish and so she, Tina, Mercedes and Sugar were painting their nails. Kurt had a magazine in his lap and occasionally looked down to read it, but mostly stared at the TV with a vacant look.

"Hey Tina" Quinn said as she added a coat of dark purple to Tina's ring finger.

"Yeah?"

"Have you told Mr. Schue about the prank plan?" Quinn asked in a lower voice. Puck was busy yelling his answer so he wasn't able to hear them. "You'll be needing their participation, too."

"You're right" Tina said.

"This has to be perfect" Quinn reminded her.

"Yes. They're out on the deck, right?" Tina asked, looking at the door and at the windows.

"Yeah, as soon as I'm done with this hand, you'll be done so you can go talk to them" Quinn said, dipping the small brush back in its bottle.

"Mercedes, you should get a job doing this" Sugar said, admiring the beautiful pink flowers that Mercedes was painting on her hands.

"Thanks" Mercedes said. "Nail art is defiantly a backup plan if singing doesn't work out."

"My backup plan is trophy wife" Sugar mused.

"Shocker" Quinn said with a chuckle. Sugar reached over and as best as she could with freshly painted nails, she hit her.

"Remember when Rachel told Santana that the only job she'd ever have is on a pole?" Tina laughed. "I think Sam fell off his chair from laughing at that."

"When Rachel is passionate, her insults are grade A" Mercedes said. "It's hilarious because she just spits them out. You don't expect it."

"I heard my name" Rachel called, looking over at them.

"That's because we're talking about you" Quinn called back with a smile.

"Only good things, I presume?"

"Sure" Mercedes winked at her.

"There!" Quinn said, dramatically putting the polish brush back in the bottle for good. "You are all polished up."

"Thanks, girl" Tina said, admiring the job. She stood up. "And now, I'm going to have a chat with the teachers."

She went to the door, slid on her flip-flops, and stepped outside. It was cooler than she remembered.

"Hello Tina" Will said, noticing her come out. He, Emma and Sue were sitting on plastic lawn chairs with glasses of wine in their hands.

"Can I talk to you guys?" Tina asked, smiling.

"Should I be worried?" Will asked.

"Not really" Tina said.

"Okay then" Will nodded.

Tina hurried over and pulled up a chair.

"Is this about Blaine and Kurt?" Emma asked.

"No. We don't really know what happened anyways" Tina said. "This is about a prank."

"Oh goodness" Will said and took a sip of wine.

Tina giggled. "We need your help."

"If I remember correctly, there was some pranking going on in Florida" Will said. "If I also remember correctly, you were locked in a closet for a night."

Tina nodded and smiled at the memory. "But this isn't a prank on me."

"Who is it on?" Sue asked, looking very amused.

"Puck" Tina said.

"Is it safe?" Emma asked.

Tina nodded. "Here's the plan. Tomorrow night, when Puck falls asleep, we're gonna do a few things. One, duct tape him into his sleeping bag. Two, hide everything. All our suitcases, shoes, everything. There can't be a single trace of us. Then, the next morning, we're gonna get up earlier than Puck and leave. We'll use Mercedes' camera to secretly film it all because Puck will think we left for Ohio because us and our things will be all gone."

"You know, female asian, I must say I'm quite impressed with this little prank you came up with" Sue commented with what Tina assumed to be a smile.

"Oh, um, I didn't come up with it fully myself" Tina admitted.

Sue sighed. "You lost the opportunity to take full credit of someone else's work. Shame."

"Santana and Rachel helped. The three of us are in charge" Tina said to Will and Emma.

"Why Puck?" Emma asked.

"At first it was because the first time we went swimming, he me dragged me into the water. I vowed to get revenge. But now it's because it's funny. He's a perfect target" Tina smiled.

Sue nodded fondly. "Revenge. I like it."

"So will you guys help?" Tina asked hopefully. "It won't work unless you're on board."

Will glanced at Emma and Sue. The three of them nodded. "I'd be okay with that."

"Sure" Emma said.

"Sue, you'll participate the way they need right?" Will asked with a slightly accusative tone.

Sue nodded. "I love a prank just as much as the next gal."

"Thank you so much" Tina grinned. "Oh, this will be perfect!" She stood up. "We'll tell you more closer to the event."

Will nodded. "Plan this through. We don't want it to be a waste."

"We will" Tina nodded. A gust of cool wind blew suddenly she she shivered. "Oh, I'm cold. I'm going back in, now. Thanks again."

"No problem" Will nodded with a smile. Sue chugged the rest of her wine.

* * *

After Wheel Of Fortune, there was a nature documentary about spiders on TV. Some of the guys were extremely amused and loudly exclaimed their disgust every few minutes. The girls found the show too gross to watch so they read through the stack of magazine that they had brought. Blaine, who had given up on pretending to read the paper, sat with the guys and found some amusement in seeing Sam pretend to gag and Puck's faces when the spider viciously ate a dead bug. Santana and Mercedes took Blaine's discarded paper and were vandalizing the pictures.

"This is great practice for the yearbooks" Santana said as she drew a sombrero on some old man.

But after an hour and a half, they had grown tired. The spider show had ended and they were all bored.

"I'm actually falling asleep here" Mike shook his head.

"Sa-a-ame" Artie yawned, making Quinn, Joe and Rory yawn shortly after.

So they put their pyjamas on and slowly got ready to sleep.

When Blaine got out of the bathroom and walked back to the circle of sleeping bags, he was crushed to see that Kurt had moved his sleeping bag across the circle. Needless to say, Blaine softly cried himself to sleep. No one had the heart to tell him to be quiet.

* * *

It was an awful sleep for many of them. Both Kurt and Blaine couldn't sleep and due to their restlessness, it woke several others up too. Blaine simply lay in the dark and once in a while dozed off only to be woken up by light footsteps across the room. He knew it was Kurt, who had a habit of walking to the bathroom every hour or so, and he was secretly glad that Kurt wasn't sleeping well either.

On Kurt's fourth trip to the bathroom, he did the same thing he did each time before: pace around slowly in the tight space, wash his hands as if he was trying to wash away the sadness, and simply stare at his refection in the mirror.

But as Kurt grew slowly tired again and was about to make his way back to his sleeping bag, he heard faint tapping on the door.

"Kurt?" came the barely audible whisper. It was Rachel.

Kurt slowly unlocked the door and let her in. She firstly hugged him.

"Can't sleep?" she asked him gently.

"Nope. Did I wake you?"

"I think Blaine's whimpering did" Rachel said honestly. "I know you needed someone to talk to, so here I am."

Kurt sighed and sat down on the floor. Rachel slid down next to him.

"I don't even know what to say" Kurt said after a pause. "I'm just so angry and sad and hurt."

"Did you mean what you said at the end? About not talking to him again?" Rachel asked him.

"No" Kurt said. "But I just wanted him to understand what I was feeling and how mad I was."

"Do you want to break up with him?" Rachel asked.

"No, never" Kurt answered. "I just don't understand him sometimes." He paused as if he was deep in thought. Then he turned to Rachel. "Did you think he was being clingy?"

She slowly nodded. "I could tell something wasn't right. Sometimes it seemed that he was afraid that if he didn't get to you right away, someone else would."

"But he had to do it in such a childish way" Kurt said.

Rachel sighed. "I'm not disputing that, but I think you have to take a step back and see where he was coming from. He's right, you know. Next year will be really different. You may be in New York and he'll be in Lima at a school that he came to for you. He's just scared that the distance will tear you apart."

"But look at everyone else! They're in the same boat. Mike and Tina, Brittany and Santana, Sam and Mercedes...You don't see any of them acting that way."

"Maybe they've sat down and talked about things" Rachel said.

"We did too, though" Kurt said.

"But it didn't seem to be enough. I think the reality of Graduation and this trip hit him hard and now he's scared that it'll be over too fast. You need to sit down with him and talk things through with him. Reassure him" Rachel advised.

"The worst part of it all is that he didn't seem to care about how I was feeling" Kurt said.

"But he does" Rachel said.

"Sometimes I doubt it" Kurt muttered. He yawned.

"See, you're tired now" Rachel smiled.

Kurt nodded. "Oh, Rachel. There are days when I really can't stand you. But then there come moments like this and I remember why you're my best friend. Thank you so much" he said and hugged her.

"No problem" Rachel hugged him. "I love you and you should never be sad."

They stood up and made their way back to the sleeping bags.

Sure enough, if Kurt listened carefully, he could hear Blaine sadly sniffing.

Kurt sighed and curled deeper into his sleeping bag so his ears were covered.

* * *

Morning brought another glorious day. The sun lit up the room, but despite the happy feel, the attitudes of the teens were cold. Will woke them up by saying that they shouldn't waste away their last full day by sleeping. That wasn't a very cheery thing. To add to that, Blaine looked like a mess. His hair was wild, his clothes were crumpled and there were bags under his eyes. Across the sleeping bag circle, Kurt barely looked better. He had bags too and his hair was a slightly better mess. He didn't look half as upset as Blaine did.

"Okay guys, because we're down to the final days, don't open anything new. Finish the boxes of cereal that are already open and stuff like that, okay?" Will told them, holding up an opened box for emphasis.

"Here we go" Puck said, untangling himself from his sleeping bag.

"Time for another day" Mercedes stretched.

"Our last day" Tina reminded them. She leaned over to Santana. "Which means we have some work to do."

* * *

**A/N**

**Well, there isn't much to say here. I wanted some Hummelberry and so this came out. :) **

**The lack of Glee on TV may be slowly killing me. **

**Go to my Glee blog, **

**gleerificnewsstop{dot}wordpress{dot}com**

**or follow me on twitter**

** AVeryMagicGleek**

**okay ily bye :)**


	37. Chapter 37

Breakfast went fast. Determined to make the most of their last day, they didn't want to waste time eating such a insignificant meal as breakfast. So they hurriedly shoved food in their mouths and ran to put on their clothes.

Last to finish breakfast was Blaine, who nibbled away at a single slice of strawberry jam covered toast. By the time he was almost done, most of the others were already dressed for the day and ready to go.

"Hey, Blaine, hurry it up" Finn said, throwing one of Rachel's flip-flops at him. It bounced off his knee and Blaine glared at him.

"Yeah, we're all almost ready to go" Puck added. "You're gonna be the last one ready.

Blaine frowned and stood up. "Sorry I'm such a disappointment to everyone then" he said in a thick voice before hurrying off to the suitcase room.

"Nice going" Quinn scolded the two guys who looked confused.

* * *

They rode their bikes up to Town. The park was pretty busy and the soothing sound of tennis balls being hit back and forth could be heard amidst the sound of people talking and children laughing.

"You know, I'm gonna miss this place" Rachel said as they parked their bikes under a tree.

"Well I for one can't wait to be home" Kurt sighed. "Cottage life really isn't for me."

"But you have to admit that it's beautiful here" Quinn said, kicking a rock across the lush green grass. Kurt didn't reply.

"Well what are we gonna do?" Joe asked.

"We could play Grounders again?" Tina suggested.

"Nah, too many little kids running around" Sam said, lying down on the grass.

"Hey, you know how if you walk down there and go right you'll get to the pier?" Mercedes asked, pointing in the general direction.

"Yeah, so?" Santana asked, looking in that direction as if she expected to see something.

"Well, what if we went left? What if we went across the field and went left?" Mercedes asked.

"I say we go see" Artie shrugged. "I mean, we might as well."

"I'm cool with that" Finn said. "Blaine? What about you?" he asked, hoping that Blaine would stop looking so sad and engage in conversation.

Blaine shrugged. "Sure."

"Well that settles it" Quinn stood up from the park bench she was sitting on. "Let's go."

So they walked down across the park towards The Moonlight Inn and out onto the field that they played soccer on the day before. They cut across the field and got onto a small dirt path than ran along the water's edge.

For as far as the eye could see there was only more dirt road up ahead, surrounded on the right side by reeds and glistening lake and on the left side, large, green trees.

They walked in small groups, chatting as they stared at the lovely scenery. The water was calm, with only a few small ripples from a bug or something. The sun was warm and it made the water look like a mirror, reflecting the reeds growing in and along it. There were no cottages down there, making it very quiet and serene.

"Kurt, you should talk to Blaine" Rachel said, glancing over her shoulder to where Blaine quietly walked with Sam, Joe, Puck, Mike and Artie.

Kurt sighed. "Maybe." He paused a moment before adding. "I think he should come to me."

"I doubt he will, though. He'll just shut himself away until it's too late" Rachel said.

Kurt didn't reply. He just crossed his arms and sighed.

A few paces ahead, Santana hurried up to Tina, who was leading the group. "Ready for today?"

"You mean the prank?" Tina asked. "I sure am."

"Good because we have a lot to prepare" Santana said.

"We do. Where's Rachel, she should be here. Rachel! Come here!" Tina called and Rachel hurried away from Kurt and to them.

"We'll see if we can get away from the group this afternoon and do some basic work" Santana said. "But I also had a thought."

"About what?"

"The duct tape. It's loud. How are we to use it if it's so loud?" Santana asked.

"Ooh good point" Rachel nodded and thought about it.

"Quinn!" Tina said suddenly and turned around. "Quinn, come here a minute."

Quinn, who was walking with Mercedes, sped up a bit. "Yes?"

"You slept with Puck. Is he a deep sleeper?" Tina asked.

Quinn smirked. "Yes."

"Great, thanks" Tina said. "You're free to go."

"How about we get the duct tape ready before hand? We can get it all into strips so all we need to do is use it" Rachel suggested.

"That's a great idea" Santana nodded. "I think this'll be a great prank. We'll pull it off, I'm sure."

"We will. Puck won't suspect me or Rachel and you're a good enough actor to seem innocent" Tina said.

"'Good enough'?" Santana frowned. "I'm a fabulous actor."

* * *

"You know, we still haven't figured out what Coach Sylvester has been doing this whole trip" Mercedes commented as he walked with Rory, Finn, Quinn, Sugar and Brittany.

Finn picked up a small stone and tossed it into the water, making circles of ripples. "Maybe she's in a gang."

"A gang?" Mercedes rolled her eyes.

"Sure. She probably goes to a shady looking cottage on the lake's edge where a bunch of people go and meet to discuss their newest act of deviance" Finn said.

"Why on the lake's edge?" Rory asked.

Finn make an evil-looking face. "So they can dispose of the bodies."

"There's a difference between a gang and the mafia, Finn" Quinn said.

"Maybe she's not doing anything illegal. Maybe she's just walking around like we are" Brittany said.

"Unlikely. That doesn't explain why she's always shut up in the bunkhouse by herself or on her laptop" Mercedes said.

"Maybe she's writing a book?" Rory suggested.

"Yeah! That'd make perfect sense!" Finn nodded and snapped his fingers.

"Why? Who would read it?" Sugar said. "Reading isn't fun at all."

"She's pretty notorious around Lima" Mercedes nodded. "Yeah, a book would be believable. And her walking around would be when she's looking for inspiration."

"I think we've cracked it" Finn said. "Coach Sylvester must be writing a book."

"I should ask to be the illustrator" Brittany said. "I have a new pack of crayons and I'm such a good artist."

* * *

With Rachel chatting in whispers with Tina and Santana and everyone else in their own groups, Kurt was alone. He walked with his hands in his pockets staring at the dusty but defined road. They had been walking for almost half an hour. Up ahead, there was a clearing coming. The large trees were becoming less and less. But although Kurt's eyes were fixed ahead, he wasn't focusing at all. His mind was jumbled with thoughts of Blaine, wondering what he should do. Should he talk to him? Should he let Blaine make the first move? What would he say? What could happen? In his mind he walked himself through several possible conversations but he knew the real one would be so different that planning was pointless.

"Woah!" Santana gasped. They had arrived at the clearing. Now, on both their left and right, there was water. The road kept on going, but the water wrapped around it farther down. There was like a mini, bright lake to their left. They could see a highway across the lake, with small cars driving on it. The water was calm and sparkled in the sun. There were a few geese on a bank several yards away and a couple ducks floating on the water.

"So pretty" Brittany smiled. Mercedes pulled out her camera and started taking pictures.

"I wonder how many people know this is out here. We didn't pass anyone out on the walk and it looks pretty deserted" Quinn said.

"It looks natural" Joe corrected. "It's awesome."

However, after about ten minutes, they had seen it all and were bored.

Puck glanced at his watch. "I'm hungry so let's head back."

"You don't want to go farther?" Rachel asked, looking up at the road they've yet to travel.

"No. Let's go back and get Slushies. For eating, not for throwing" Puck said.

"I'm with Puck" Artie said, nodding excitedly. "Besides, it's hot and I forgot my sunglasses."

"You should get those glasses that automatically darken in the sun" Sam said. "My mom has a pair."

Artie nodded. "Yeah, I should..."

So they turned and walked back along the road. The groups had changed. Kurt purposely hung back a bit. He had made up his mind.

Blaine had migrated to Sam again, but was a step behind them. Kurt took the chance. He hurried next to Blaine. Upon seeing Kurt next to him, Blaine ducked his head and stiffened up.

They took a few steps, synchronized, Blaine noticed, in silence before Kurt sighed.

"Can we talk?" he asked.

"I thought you never wanted to talk to me again" Blaine said icily. He didn't mean to sound so harsh, but he was so taken aback that it couldn't be helped.

"You know I didn't mean that" Kurt said quietly.

Blaine stayed quiet.

"Right? You know I didn't mean that, right?" Kurt asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

"I don't know what I can believe" Blaine finally said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I'm lost here, Kurt. I don't know what you want from me" Blaine said.

"Well right now I just want to talk" Kurt said.

"We are" Blaine replied gruffly.

Kurt paused. "What do you mean you're lost?"

"I mean that I just don't know what happened and what you want."

Kurt could tell there was more coming so he stayed silent and tried to hold back his tears.

"You always talk about being with me and how you love spending time with me, but you got mad at me for wanting to hang out with you. And you're always talking about New York and saying how you'll miss me-"

"I don't even know if I'm going to New York!" Kurt cut in.

"-but you don't want to spend our last few months together. The future will happen one day and it's gonna come soon than you think. And then you'll have regrets and I'll be upset and you'll be upset and it'll be a bigger mess than it is now!"

Blaine was breathing heavily by the end of this outburst, but he wasn't crying.

Kurt let a few minutes pass before saying anything. They both needed to calm down. Kurt focused on the back heel of Finn's old running shoes up ahead and Blaine stared at the lake to his left.

"It's not that I didn't want to spend time with you, Blaine" Kurt said. "I do love spending time with you. But we've been together in close quarters for over a week and you've just gotten so clingy. I need space."

"What'll happen in the future? What'll happen if we're living in a tiny apartment and we're married? Marriage is longer than a week, you know!"

"Not if you're a Kardashian" Kurt muttered and Blaine almost laughed.

"You can't just get used to me then so you either get used to me now or don't get used to me at all" Blaine added before he had time to think about it.

"You know what you need to get used to? You need to get used to the fact that I love you and I told you we'll be okay" Kurt said.

"You're all talk, though. You say you'll never say good bye and you say we'll be fine, but then something like this happens and I think we both start to doubt" Blaine said.

"Well, then I don't know what to say. You obviously can't trust me-"

"You haven't given me a chance to! Like you said, we've been together this whole time! But I'm thinking about the future and you seem to be taking it pretty lightly considering you're the one who's making a bigger change!"

"You think I'm not worried or scared?"

"Well you haven't shown it!"

"I've tried to refrain from dumping my problems on you" Kurt said. "You shouldn't have to deal with it."

Blaine looked at Kurt. "Kurt, I'm your boyfriend. That's my job. I've always been there for you since the start. Since before we were dating. And now you decide that I can't be involved. You know, that hurts."

Kurt sighed. He never meant to hurt Blaine. Ever since they discovered Blaine's insecurity during the Whitney Houston week, he's stopped unloading his emotions on Blaine in fear that Blaine would crack again. Blaine had enough of his own worries and problems and Kurt couldn't conscientiously add more.

"I'm sorry" Kurt admitted quietly. "I...I just didn't want you to feel responsible for things you couldn't control. Don't take this the wrong way, but I figured one of us had to at least pretend to be strong and after you've done that so, so many times for me..."

"I want to. I want you to cry to my shoulder when you need to. I want you to tell me your worries. Because even if I can't fix them, I can help you live through them" Blaine said, moving a tiny bit closer to Kurt. "I thought we were in for the long haul."

"We are."

"Well, we were. Don't you realize that every minute we don't spend together is a minute we'll never spend together?" Blaine asked.

"I do understand that. But it wouldn't be fair to you if I spent time with you and I wasn't enjoying it because I was too busy wishing I had some space to myself" Kurt argued. Suddenly the mood changed back to harsh.

"Maybe so, but it doesn't even seem like you're trying to make us work" Blaine said. And just like that, his defensive, victim wall was up again.

"That's not true and you know it" Kurt said.

"Sometimes it seems like that" Blaine said.

Kurt was opened his mouth to respond when Finn suddenly turned around.

"Hey, Kurt!" Finn called, but he saw what Kurt was in the middle of. "Oh, uh, never mind, I'll ask you later..."

"Ask me now, Finn" Kurt sighed, a bit grateful for a break.

Finn gave a half smile. "Okay, uh, Rachel says we aren't supposed to wear white after labour day, but isn't it technically always after labour day? Like, today is after last year's labour day and also the day before labour day is still after the last labour day? So how can it technically ever be after labour day?"

Despite the fact that tears were in his eyes, Blaine laughed.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "You're kidding me, right? That is the stupidest question ever."

Finn's bright smile fell.

Puck leaned over to Finn. "I thought it was pretty smart" he said and Finn's smile returned.

Blaine used the back of his hands to wipe his eyes, still with a smile on his face. Even Kurt had a small smile.

"Finn is one of a kind" Kurt sighed and Blaine laughed again. For a moment, they forgot that they were in the midst of a fight. But like being hit with a bag of apples, the sullen feeling returned. But neither of them know how to start up their conversation again. So they walked a bit in silence. Again Blaine stared at the water, admiring how it sparkled in the bright sun. Kurt mindlessly played with his fingers, a habit he had when he was nervous.

After five minutes of total silence, Blaine was bold enough to break it

"So...now what?"

"We're not done talking" Kurt replied.

"Oh."

There was another minute of silence before Kurt was the one to break it.

"Blaine, do you understand where I'm coming from?"

"Sometimes."

"Right now, do you?"

"Not fully."

"What don't you get?"

Blaine looked at him with a sad face. "Why did you say I was acting like a little boy?"

"Because you were" Kurt said, not holding back. "You were like a little, attention needing child."

Blaine didn't respond. What does one say to that?

"That's what bugged me the most. It wasn't that you kept pestering me, it was that you did it in such a childish, immature way."

"Sorry" Blaine muttered.

By now they were back to the soccer field so all conversations stopped and they all regrouped. Kurt glanced at Blaine with a look that said 'we will finish this later'. Blaine maintained steady eye contact for a minute before ducking behind Finn.

"And that concludes our little excursion" Tina said as they made their way back to the park.

"You know what that means?" Puck asked.

"Slushie time!" Sam hollered with a fist pump and they all took off for the little store.

* * *

**A/N**

**I had a bit of writer's block so I'll admit, this chapter isn't my best. But we're building up to the big prank, which I am super excited about. And I also added some Klaine dialogue. I'm pretty sure I use fanfiction to subtly express my disappointment for canon Glee episode and plots. Don't get me wrong, I love Glee, but some things just disappoint me. Anyways, I'll try to have the next chapter up next week but if my annoying writer's block keeps up, it maybe be longer. :)**

**But I love you all. Don't forget that, okay?**


	38. Chapter 38

It took a while for them to all get slushies, but after a while, they sat on the grass in a messy circle, each clutching a freezing cold cup of coloured ice. There were three flavours available so no cup was the same because they mixed them and had different quantities.

"Are we going to the beach again this afternoon?" Puck asked.

"I think we should" Rachel said, nodding and playing with the straw in her cup.

"I doubt we'll get a chance to tomorrow" Quinn said wistfully.

"What time is our flight tomorrow?" Sam asked.

"In the afternoon, I think" Kurt answered. "Or early evening."

"And we'll have to be at the airport a few hours before" Mercedes added.

"I just want to sleep in a real bed" Sugar smiled. "I'm done with the floor."

"Floors are cozy" Finn said.

"I miss my parents" Joe said, sipping his slushie. "I've never been away from them for so long."

"Didn't you ever go to summer camp or something?" Sam asked Joe.

"No."

"Oh... well, we'll be home to our families sooner than we'll know" Sam said firmly.

"Rory, why do you look like a hurt puppy?" Tina asked, noticing Rory, who looked incredibly sad. He stared down dismally into his slushie as if he was searching for some life meaning. At Tina's words, Rory looked up.

"Sorry, I was just...thinking."

"About?"

"Well, I'm probably the only one here who doesn't want to leave. Because in one week I'll be back in Ireland. As much as miss my family, I'm gonna really miss you guys because you're my new family" Rory explained to them.

"One week?" Mike asked.

Rory nodded sullenly.

"Wow, we're gonna miss you so much" Mercedes said.

"Ooooh Rory, don't go" Sugar cried and threw her arms around him. "Who else is gonna tell me that I'm the prettiest girl in the world?"

Finn held up his half finished slushie with a dignified look. "To Rory, who shall forever be our favourite Irish person. He's a great friend and a cool dude and we're gonna miss you."

Everyone else held up their cups and nodded. "To Rory" they echoed.

Several of them had tears in their eyes. Rory was actually crying. Mercedes pulled out her camera and took pictures of it all.

"Thanks, you guys" Rory said. "And I'll be sure to come visit you as often as I can."

"You'll always have a room at my house" Brittany said. "Unless Lord Tubbington moves in there and starts a meth lab."

Rory gave a watery smile. "But enough of this sadness now. Let's enjoy the rest of the trip, aye?"

"Aye" several of them said with a laugh.

* * *

Emma was going through the fridge and Will was going through the cupboards. The counters, although small, were piled high with food.

"We gotta use this cheese" Emma said, tossing half a cheese block on the counter.

"And these Arrowroot cookies are half eaten" Will sighed placing the box next to three cartons of chocolate milk.

"Okay let's split this food into lunch food, dinner food, tomorrow's lunch food, stuff that can stay, snack food and other food" Emma said, looking at all the food.

"Are you kidding me?" Sue groaned loudly, walking into the small kitchen. "It's lovely outside on our last day of vacation and those little crybabies are out of the cottage and you two nubs are in here sorting food?"

Will chuckled just to clear the air. "Well someone has to do it, and you know no one else will."

"And I like sorting" Emma said happily. "It makes things neat."

Sue rolled her eyes. "That's pathetic. Completely pathetic. Go to the beach! This is potentially your last moments alone."

"You could help us out, Sue" Will said. "It'll get done faster."

Sue sighed. "Fine. But it's only so I can get a say in what's for lunch."

"And because you're being nice" Will added with a victorious smirk.

"If that's what you want to believe" Sue replied, picking up a jar of pickles.

"Thank you, Sue" Will chimed.

Sue paused. "You're welcome."

"So what do you guys think of this prank the kids have going?" Emma asked.

Will chuckled. "I think it's kinda smart."

"Noah is a good target" Emma said. "He's such a bad-boy but something like this will strip him to his emotions."

"It'll be hilarious" Sue said smugly.

"Hopefully they can pull it off" Will said. "A lot needs to be done."

"I think they'll do it" Emma said. "They're bright kids and between them all, they'll be able to ensure it's all perfectly set up."

"Hate to be a downer, but I think they'll fail" Sue said. "They'll miss something and even Mr. Mohawk will be smart enough to notice it."

Will made a 'tsk' sound. "That's why we're helping. We gotta make sure it doesn't fail."

"I suppose" Sue said, putting some pears in their designated pile.

"Well, look at that" Emma said some twenty minutes later. "We are done!"

All the food was separated into piles properly. The stacks covered the counters, but Emma made sure that they were neatly stacked so it was symmetrical when possible.

Will clapped his hands once. "Great!"

"That wasn't fun at all" Sue admitted, leaning against the counter.

"But now we're done" Will said. "The kids will probably be home soon."

"Home? This isn't home, really" Emma said.

"After almost two weeks it seems like it is" Sue rolled her eyes.

"I guess home is wherever the group is. We're like a family so this is our temporary home" Will smiled.

"That's just weird" Sue commented.

"Does anyone want to go down to the beach?" Emma asked.

"Nah, I'm good" Sue said. "I'll stay here. My room is a mess anyways, I should clean that."

"I'll come to the beach with you, Em" Will said.

Emma smiled brightly. "Yay."

* * *

When the last of the slushies were gone, they got up and went over to the playground. It was still loaded with little kids, so they decided not to hang around any longer. They walked back to their mound of bikes and grabbed their respective ones. They biked back to the cottage, glad to get a breeze while they biked as it was very hot out.

"We're ba-ack!" Rachel sang as they went into the cottage. There was a rush to get right in front of the small revolving fan.

"Mr. Schue?" Rachel asked when she didn't get a response.

"I don't think anyone's here" Artie said. "They must have gone out."

"We didn't see them in Town" Sam frowned.

"Maybe they took another route? Or maybe they're not in Town?" Tina said.

"Puck! Quit hogging the fan" Sugar shrieked and tried to push him out of the way.

"Bug off" Puck shouted. "You had your turn."

"And you've had yours!" Brittany joined in, jumping on Puck in an attempt to get him away. Puck stood directly in front of the fan so even if it spun a bit, he still got the majority of the cool air. But with Brittany clinging onto him like a koala, he staggered back a bit. Santana and Sam leaped forward to claim the coveted spot. There was more pushing and yelps.

"You guys are all animals, I hope you know" Kurt shouted sassily at them as he walked by to join Blaine, alone on the couch. Blaine was watching the fan battle as it was very amusing. Especially because they were all laughing at the same time.

They heard the bunk house door open and close followed a second later by the screen door to the cottage. At once everyone turned their heads to see who it was.

"Oh, hey Coach Sylvester" Joe said politely.

"Greetings, Raggedy Ann" Sue said without missing a beat.

"Where is Mr. Schue and Ms. Pillsbury?" Finn asked.

"At the beach" Sue answered. "I've come in here to inform you that if you even breath on the newly sorted food in the kitchen, I will personally hunt you down and tie you into only the most saltiest of pretzels."

"But it's almost lunch time" Sam pouted.

"Eat yourself, eat each other, eat the couch, but don't, under any circumstances, touch that food" Sue said firmly, pointing to the kitchen.

"What if the zombie apocalypse happens like right now and we need to escape, are we allowed to take the food then?" Brittany asked.

"No!" Sue said, much louder now. "Now, I fear I'm catching the stupidity, so I'mma leave now." And with that, she promptly spun around and retreated back to the bunkhouse, slamming the doors for extra emphasis.

"Hormones" Quinn sighed thoughtfully, since she was the only one who understands pregnancy.

"So I guess we wait" Rachel said, plopping herself down in front of the TV and grabbing the remote. "Finally we can watch something other than dumb sports!"

"Yay" Mercedes squealed and hurried over to join her.

"Watch it be some boring talk show" Kurt mumbled to Blaine. "If I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times, day-"

"Time TV sucks" Blaine said it with him.

Kurt looked over at him with a small smile, surprised that he knew what he was going to say. "Exactly."

There was a moment of silence between them as they watched Rachel finally settle on Judge Judy.

Kurt sighed with disgust at her choice. Then he turned to Blaine, who was running his fingers over the pattern on a sofa pillow.

"D-do you want to continue our...conversation now or...?" Kurt asked slowly.

Blaine looked at him, their eyes meeting. Kurt's eyes were wide and sad and even looked a bit scared.

"If you want to" Blaine said, trying to sound casual.

"Well, I don't think putting it off is a good idea" Kurt replied. "Right?"

"I guess."

"I don't want to lose you, Blaine" Kurt said. "Ever."

"I don't want to lose you either" Blaine said. "But I feel like arguments like this isn't helping us move in the right direction."

"No, no, no, we're not arguing" Kurt said. "We're laying it all out on the table. It is helping because I need to know how you feel and vice versa, okay?"

Blaine nodded and sniffed. "Yeah."

"Remember when we were at Dalton? Remember how we both had problems? Remember how it seemed to be us against the world? We had honestly then. We told each other everything. And that was great. What changed?"

"Me telling you I was worried for a test and me telling you I'm worried about the future are two very different things" Blaine said.

"Yeah, but like you said, at least I can help you live through it, even if I can't fix it" Kurt pointed out.

"So we both have honesty issues" Blaine said. "And trust issues."

"We can work through them, though, right?" Kurt asked. "B-because I don't want to try and fix something that's impossible. It takes two to break it and two to fix it."

"I do want to fix it" Blaine said with wide eyes. "I do. I don't want to break up. I don't want to be alone. I don't want you to be alone."

"You won't ever be alone, Blaine" Kurt said. "You're my best friend and even if I'm across the country or we're broken up or we're together, you always will be. You've helped me through my darkest days and I can never thank you enough."

Blaine gave watery smile. "No, I think we're pretty even."

Kurt smiled back at him then took a deep breath. "As amazing as I am, I can't predict the future. I don't know what'll happen and I don't know how things'll be. So you just have to have faith in me and what I say now. That's literally the only option."

"I do have faith in you...but sometimes its not enough" Blaine said. "And I feel that if I keep trying to get reassurance..."

"I'll get annoyed?" Kurt offered and Blaine slowly nodded. "Blaine, seriously, I get what you mean. I understand your fears."

"I know" Blaine nodded.

"You're scared we'll lose touch. You're scared you'll be alone. You're scared you won't make new friends. You're scared the future will bring bad things..."

"Yes! That's it exactly" Blaine nodded fiercely.

Kurt half smiled. "Do you know what I'm scared of?" He glanced down at his socks. "I'm scared that I won't get into NYADA. And I'm scared that if I do, New York will suck. I'm scared that I'll be alone and make no friends and get lost and embarrass myself. What if I'm bullied? What if it'll be worse than high school? What if I'm not good enough? I'm a good singer and I know it, but am I just Lima good? Am I New York good? What if I fail? What if I end up losing everything and everyone when I go? What if something happens to you or Dad or Carole or someone and I'm not there? What if-" Kurt was speaking really fast and he had started crying. For a moment Blaine forgot that they were in the midst of a deep conversation because his first instinct was to comfort Kurt. He slid over to the couch so he was right next to Kurt who had put his hands on his face. Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt and leaned into him.

"Shhhh, Kurt, it'll be fine. Everything will be fine" Blaine whispered. "You're fabulous and New York will love you."

Kurt sniffed and leaned closer to Blaine. "I don't even want to go."

"Yes you do" Blaine said. "It's your dream. You can do it."

Kurt nodded and took deep breaths until the tears stopped. When they had, Blaine let go of him but didn't go back to the end of the couch.

Kurt wiped the last of his tears away with his hands then looked Blaine in the eye. "Blaine, I am sorry for getting mad yesterday. I know you didn't mean any harm and you just wanted to make the most of our time."

"And...I'm sorry for being clingy. You have other friends and your world doesn't revolve around me. I never meant to get you mad.

Kurt smiled. "I'll forgive you if you'll forgive me."

Blaine nodded and simultaneously, they both leaned forward and hugged each other. The fact that both of them cried themselves to sleep and had doubts about whether they'd be alright made the hug much better. Neither of them wanted to let go.

"We'll be okay" Blaine said in his ear and held on tighter.

Kurt nodded. "Okay is wonderful. I love you."

Blaine smiled. "I love you too."

* * *

When Mr. Schue and Ms. Pillsbury returned, it was almost one in the afternoon.

"Sorry we're late, guys" Will said. "We lost track of time."

"Were you at the beach?" Artie asked.

"Yeah. The water's really nice" Will said.

"Have you guys eaten lunch?" Emma asked them with a smile.

"No, Coach Sylvester forbid us from touching food" Mike said. He shrugged before adding, "So we ate the couch."

"You what?" Will looked shocked.

Mike grinned. "Kidding."

Emma giggled and Will rolled his eyes. "We sorted the food today so Sue just wanted to ensure that it stayed sorted. Give us twenty minutes and we'll have lunch ready."

"Twenty minutes? That's so far. That's it, I'm reverting to cannibalism" Finn joked loudly.

"Ew" Sugar said. "I may be named Sugar but I don't taste like it."

Finn gave her an evil glare. "We shall see." He held his arms out like a zombie and made his way towards her, but she shrieked and leaped over Santana as she tried to get away.

"Why am I friends with you?" Santana scoffed and rolled her eyes.

* * *

**A/N**

**It was physically paining me to keep Klaine apart so I wrote this. Anyways, this is chapter 38 so I'm hoping for maybe 5 more, MAYBE. Up next is beach fun! Yay for beaches! :P**

**See you next week. :) ILY**


	39. Chapter 39

It was the best beach day they've ever had. The sun was super hot and shone so brightly. There was not a single cloud in the beautiful blue sky. The water was nice and cool which was a perfect escape from the blazing heat. The only downside to such an ideal beach day was that everyone body on earth seemed to have the same idea; it was packed. The only people missing were Meredith and Andy.

"This place is loaded" Santana said glumly as they made their way down to the hot yellow and white sand.

"Well, they're Canadian. They're so nice, they'll make room no problem" Tina joked.

Tina was right. As soon as some people saw the large group coming down, they shuffled over immediately and gave the teens some room.

"Thank you" Quinn politely said to the people who moved.

"Who wants to swim?" Mike asked as soon as they set down their bags.

"No, I wanna catch some sun" Brittany said.

"Yeah, we spend so much time doing stuff that we don't have time to just sit and tan and relax" Rachel said.

"But tanning's for chicks" Puck said.

"These two lumps of skin on our chests say you're right" Santana said with a smirk and she lay out her towel.

"But what are we supposed to do?" Finn asked. "I don't wanna tan."

"Why not? You are all pretty pale. Rory looks like a ghost and even Sam, who lived in California, has lost his colour" Mercedes said.

"We should dig another hole" Finn said, ignoring Mercedes. "We made a pretty big one in Florida, remember? Let's do it again."

"Yeah!" Blaine nodded. "Good idea."

"Have fun" Sugar said, putting on her jewelled sunglasses and leaning back on her bright pink towel.

So the boys cleared a space and smoothed out the sand. They were closer to the water than the girls.

"We don't have shovels" Sam observed.

"Aw, darn..." Artie frowned. "In Florida we did."

"The sand's soft, though" Joe said, picking up a handful and letting in run through his fingers.

"For now. Once we get deep, it gets wet and heavy and rocky" Finn told him.

"How deep is this going?" Joe asked.

"Deep enough to stand in" Kurt answered and Joe looked both surprised and excited.

"Digging with our hands will be a pain. Literally!" Sam said.

"Hold on" Mike said with a deep thinking face. "I may have an idea." He leaped up and hurried across the beach and up the rickety stairs to the top of the banks. The guys saw him disappear.

"Where's he going?" Kurt asked, but they all shrugged in response.

Mike returned a moment later with a victorious grin. He hurried down the stairs and jumped onto the sand. In his hand, he held something. When he got closer and fell to his knees at the cleared area. The item he held was tree bark. It was a small slab that was thick and curved.

"I found it on the ground" Mike said, holding it out. "We can use it to scoop the sand out."

"Brilliant!" Kurt smiled.

Puck highfived him. "Good idea, bro."

Mike beamed. "Well, this hole isn't going to dig itself!"

* * *

"This is nice, eh?" Mercedes sighed happily.

"You said 'eh'! The Canada is catching on!" Quinn laughed.

Mercedes giggled. "But seriously, we haven't had time for us girls to chill together."

"That's true" Tina nodded.

"Maybe that's because you guys are either super boring or super annoying" Santana said.

"That's rude" Rachel frowned.

"Sorry not sorry" Santana smirked.

"So what's going on with Kurt and Blaine?" Tina asked, changing the subject and craning her neck to see the boys.

"I dunno" Quinn said.

"I think they're back together" Mercedes said. "I saw them hugging when we were watching Judge Judy before lunch."

"Good. I think they're adorable" Brittany smiled. "Like two little kittens in love."

"I feel bad for Blaine, though" Tina said. "I totally get where he was coming from."

"Yes, but I do agree that he was being immature" Rachel said.

"Kurt was mean" Sugar said. "Making a big scene in the middle of everyone, that was harsh."

"No, Kurt was mad" Rachel said, turning over to lie on her stomach.

"Why are you siding with Kurt?" Santana asked. "Like you know something we don't?"

Rachel gave a small smirk. "That's because I do."

Mercedes sat up with a grin. "Now you gotta tell us."

Rachel shrugged, trying to be cool. "Last night I heard Kurt get up several times so I followed him and talked to him."

"And?" Santana prompted, always interested in a little gossip.

"And he expressed how upset and frustrated he was. He didn't really open up that much" Rachel said. "But when we were out this morning I pushed him to go talk to Blaine."

"Yeah they were talking" Brittany said, examining a small pebble in her hand that she had randomly picked up next to her.

"Look at them now" Quinn said, carefully watching the boys, who were happily digging their hole. Kurt and Blaine were laughing and talking as if nothing is wrong as they arranged the sand that Finn was in the process of scooping out.

"Kurt looks more reserved" Tina observed.

"And Blaine looks like he's trying to hard" Mercedes added.

"But that's expected considering their situation" Quinn said.

"I suppose" Tina nodded.

"Okay here's a random question. Which guy, excluding Blaine and Kurt, would you be least surprised at if they came out as gay?" Mercedes asked.

"Hmmm" Sugar hummed as the girls all looked at the options in front of them.

"I'd say Mike" Santana said. "He's always dressed nicely."

"Mmm, true" Quinn nodded. "Finn and Puck normally just look like they threw on whatever is clean."

"Mike is not gay" Tina said defensively.

"Calm down, Tina" Santana sighed. "I'm just answering the question."

"I'd choose Sam" Rachel said, staring at him. "When he first came to McKinley, he was originally thought to be a secret gay."

"Because of the hair?" Mercedes asked, not at all offended at Rachel's choice.

She nodded. "Yeah, it's definitely darkened since, but it's still so oddly blonde."

"Because he dyes it" Quinn piped up. "Or, he used to."

"What?" Santana, Brittany, Rachel and Sugar screamed. This was news to them all.

Quinn smirked, glad to be the center of attention at the moment and also in the know. "Yeah, on our very first date, he admitted it. I don't know if he still dyes it now, though."

"Woah" Santana blinked, quite shocked. "Woah."

"I forgot that you used to date him" Tina said. "Quinn, you've dated a lot of the guys."

Quinn shrugged. "I guess."

Santana started counting on her fingers. "Well, you've dated Puck, Finn twice, Sam, Artie, Joe..."

"I never dated Artie" Quinn interrupted her.

Santana gave her an incredulous look. "Yeah but we all know something went down between you two when you were in your wheelchair."

Quinn looked both shocked and offended. "No! He was just being helpful."

"Whatever you say" Santana said with a smirk.

"Seriously, we were just friends" Quinn persisted.

"Okay then" Tina said, but there was disbelief in her voice.

Quinn started looking to the others for back up. Her green eyes were wide. "Do all of you think I hooked up with Artie?"

No one spoke at first, making it quite evident that they did think so. They all stared awkwardly away.

"Well, you did hang out with him like twenty-four-seven" Rachel said. "And did you skipped out on our Senior Ditch day to go somewhere with him. And you did sing a duet with him. So yeah, we kinda thought something happened."

Quinn looked shocked. "Are you guys serious? I was in a wheelchair and he was the only one who really understood me and could help me. So of course I spent time with him! I was adjusting! And on Ditch Day, we went to this skate park for people with a slight body impediment. It was fun. Nothing weird happened at all. And just because I sang with him doesn't mean we're engaged or anything! Rachel, you've sung duets with Kurt, Blaine, Finn, Santana, Mercedes, myself, Tina, Puck, Mr. Schue, Jesse... Basically anyone with a mouth. Does that mean you dated them all? No. Artie and I just were and just are friends. That's it, that's all."

"Quinn, we're sorry" Tina said softly. "We saw a connection with you two and we just...assumed."

"I take offence to that" Quinn said sharply, before adjusting her sunglasses and laying back down on her blue beach towel. The other girls knew their conversation was over so they silently lay back down to, hoping that Quinn wasn't too mad.

* * *

"Woah, that's deep!" Joe said, peering down the hole that was still being dug out.

Puck, who had just taken a turn digging, smiled proudly. He tossed Joe the tree bark shovel. "Here, you take a go."

"Make sure not to cave it in" Artie warned.

"I won't" Joe said, but didn't sound as confident.

Just as he had lay down and positioned himself to dig, they all heard the girls talk loudly.

"Hey, Meredith! Andy!"

The boys looked over and saw Meredith and Andy come down the rickety stairs. Meredith had shorts on over her purple and black bathing suit and Andy had a Tshirt on with his swim shorts.

Meredith and Andy walked over to the girls and Rachel beckoned the boys over.

"Wassup?" Finn asked, as they all sat down.

Andy smiled. "Do you guys wanna come on our boat?"

Everyone's eyes lit up.

"For real?" Sam asked excitedly.

Meredith and Andy nodded. "Yeah."

"That'd be awesome!" Tina beamed.

"Okay well, when we brought the boat back from Elk Island, we brought it back here, not back to the pier" Meredith said.

"Where is it?" Puck asked, looking out at the water.

"It's over there" Andy said, pointing. Pushed right up against the sandbanks a few yards away was a large boat-shaped object. It was covered in a big blue weather-proof tarp that was held down by cinderblocks.

"How did we not notice that?" Blaine smiled.

"Now, we only have three extra life jackets, so we'll have to all take turns" Meredith said.

"That's cool" Mercedes nodded.

"Do you need help getting the boat out to water?" Finn asked.

"Oh, would you?" Meredith looked pleased. "Thank you so much."

Andy looked at them. "So who wants to come first."

Santana reacted quickly. Tina and Rachel were sitting next to her so she grabbed their hands and held them up.

"We will!" Santana called loudly.

Both Rachel and Tina looked shocked, but when they realized that it was them three, they made the connection and nodded along.

"Alright then" Andy said.

The girls stood up and Finn and a few guys helped take the tarp off the boat and move it properly to the water. Meredith and Andy were used to doing it on their own so having the help of four structurally fit guys made the job a whole lot easier.

"What's the plan?" Tina hissed to Santana as they walked to the water's edge. She knew Santana must have had a reason to volunteer them.

"It'll be the perfect time to inform Meredith and Andy about the plan" Santana said.

"Why do they need to know?" Rachel asked.

"Because if Puck seriously thinks we've left without him, he'll go to them for help" Santana explained.

"Ohhh" Rachel nodded. "Good thinking."

"And then, when Puck is on the boat, we'll go back to the cottage and start stuff" Tina said.

The boat was now in the water. Meredith and Andy maneuvered it deeper so it floated before they climbed in. It was obvious that they knew what they were doing and had done it many times.

Andy tossed Santana, Tina and Rachel three bright orange life jackets, which they put on quickly.

"Okay, swim out here and we'll help you in the boat" Meredith instructed them. The girls clasped hands and waded into the water. They water was at their stomachs when Andy helped them into the boat.

"Okay, are you ready?" Meredith asked, sitting at the back of the boat next to the motor.

Santana and Rachel sat on one side and Tina and Andy sat across from them.

"Yeah!" they nodded excitedly.

"Okay, it may get bumpy so hold on to the ropes next to you and tell me if you want me to slow down" Meredith said. Rachel took a tight grasp of the yellow ropes attached to the boat.

"Nah, I like it fast" Santana said. "Floor it!"

"It's a boat" Tina said. "You can't 'floor it'."

Meredith started the motor and professionally steered it as the boat took off over the waters. The speed made it windy and thank goodness Tina had hair elastics with her because the girls needed to tie back their hair.

"This is so awesome!" Rachel said, staring out at the water, which glistened and rippled around them. She glanced back at the shore. It was just a yellow strip now with little dots for people. It was a weird sight because they looked so small and Rachel was used to always being the smallest one; now she felt so big.

After the girls had admired it all and taken in the scene, Santana spoke up.

"There's a reason we volunteered first. We need to talk to you" she said, speaking loudly so Meredith could hear over the motor.

Meredith slowed the boat down a bit so it was a tad quieter.

"Yeah?"

"Tomorrow we leave, right? So we were thinking it'd be hilarious to prank Puck" Santana said.

"The one with the mohawk" Tina said, in case they didn't know.

Meredith and Andy smiled. "Sounds cool."

"It's really elaborate. You see, we're gonna do two things. The first is duct tape him into his sleeping bag so it'll be a struggle to get out. The second is that we're gonna wake up early and hide everything so he'll think we've gone home without him" Santana said.

"Woah" Andy said.

"That's really clever" Meredith said with a smile.

"Thanks" Tina said. "Anyways, we're telling you this because there's a good chance that Puck, in his time of desperation, may come to you guys for help."

"We need you to play along, okay?" Rachel said.

"I'm not a very good actor" Andy said quietly.

Tina patted his arm. "It's okay. This will probably happen around eight or nine AM, depending on when Puck wakes up. It'll be best if you guys don't interact with him at all."

"So don't answer the door or anything, if he comes over" Rachel said.

"No problem. We have a peep hole" Meredith said. "We'll pretend we're not home."

"Great. Everyone is in on this except Puck" Santana said. "It'll be so funny!"

"We can't wait to hear how it goes" Meredith said.

"Oh, you'll be able to see how it goes! Mercedes is going to hide her camera so we can see him in the cottage" Rachel said with a grin.

"Nice" Meredith grinned.

Meredith drove the boat around for a few more minutes before turning it and driving it towards shore. The boat came to a halt around the same place it was when Santana, Tina and Rachel got on.

"Thank you so much" Tina said as they jumped out of the boat and landed in the water.

"It was so much fun" Rachel said.

"No problem" Meredith said.

"Good luck with the prank" Andy chimed.

"We'll send along the next three people" Rachel said as they waded back to the shore.

Back on shore, the next group of three was Sam, Mercedes and Quinn. After giving them the life jackets and instructing them on what to do, Santana, Rachel and Tina announced that they were going to the bathroom. They hurried up the stairs to the cottage. They had work to do.

* * *

**A/N**

**As of today, I am done school. Well, actually I have an exam on Monday but it's Business and I have 100 in that course so I'm technically done school. :)**

**Anyways, here we have some girl time gossip, which is always fun. And boating! I love boating and I couldn't put ND on a lake without have them go boating. **

**I am almost done the next chapter so that'll deffo be up next week! :)**

**Bye!**


	40. Chapter 40

"What are you three doing here?" Sue asked when she saw Tina, Santana and Rachel coming up to the cottage from the beach. She was sitting on the porch.

"We thought we'd take the opportunity to prepare a few things for our prank" Rachel said.

"Oh" Sue simply said, turning her attention back to the cup of tea she held in her hands.

"We'll start with the duct tape" Santana said as they opened the screen door and hurried inside.

Santana led them into a kitchen where she opened a drawer under the microwave. It seemed to be a drawer of random items. Among many, many things, there was scotch tape, several paper clips, old scissors, a ball of elastics, napkins, a bouncy ball, three Pokemon cards, a spoon, a lighter, a pinecone that may or may not be real, a white button, six pennies, and two shells. Near the back was a hardly used roll of silver duct tape, which Santana pulled out and help up.

"Who cleans this drawer?" Tina asked in disgust.

"Probably no one" Rachel said, grabbing a pair of scissors and slamming the drawer shut.

They went into the open space, kicking aside some sleeping bags.

"Keep an eye out for anyone coming up from the beach" Tina said, her back to the window.

Rachel glanced out quickly. Santana was focused on getting the duct tape roll started.

"Long nails come in handy" she muttered as she finally got it and she yanked it. The tape made the iconic duct tape sound as she pulled it. Tina took the end and together they had a strip of tape about two meters long.

"Do I cut it?" Rachel asked, scissors poised and ready to cut.

"Yeah" Santana said. Rachel cut it and so she took control of Santana's end.

"Where are we putting it? We have to make sure we can use it still" Tina said.

"Puck probably won't go in the girls' luggage room" Santana said, looking at the closed door. "And if he tries, we'll make sure to keep him out."

They carried the strip of shiny silver tape to the room.

"Here, if we put it like this..." Rachel said, climbing up on the bed that was covered with suitcases and messy clothes. She carefully stuck her end of tape to the wall, and stuck the other one across from it, making them close enough so it wouldn't stick flatly to the wall and instead made a loopy bubble.

"Now we can take it off the wall quietly and it won't lose its stickiness" Rachel said proudly.

"Beautiful" Tina said approvingly.

"Do we need another piece?" Santana asked.

"I'd think so" Rachel said. "One piece would be too easy to get out of."

"But we don't want to make it too hard" Tina said. "The whole point is that he gets out and looks for us."

"Yeah, otherwise the whole video footage will be him wriggling around in his sleeping bag" Santana said with a laugh.

"And as much as that'd be very amusing..." Tina began.

"That's not what we planned" Santana finished.

"So do we cut another piece or not?" Rachel demanded

"We might as well. Better safe than sorry" Tina said.

"You sound like my mother" Santana said, picking at the tape roll again. They completed the same process and a minute later, another long strip of tape was attached to the wall.

"Great" Rachel said, hopping off the bed. "Now what?"

"Well, we can't do anything now because we still need the food and clothes and maybe even the bikes. Besides, if we start cleaning, Puck will notice" Tina said.

"True" Rachel nodded. "So back to the beach?"

They headed out of the luggage room, making sure the door was closed firmly.

* * *

"This is so fun!" Finn shouted. His hands were up in the air and he smiled widely against the wind. Every time the boat went over a wave with a bump, Finn laughed and smiled just a bit wider.

"First time on a boat, I assume?" Meredith laughed. Out of the whole group that had gone on so far, Finn seemed to be enjoying it the most.

"He's easily amused" Artie said. Getting Artie on the boat had been a bit of a struggle. After a bit of group thinking, they decided that he'd go out on his raft and they'd lift him onto the boat. Then they had made sure his life jacket was securely on and he was holding on to the ropes properly. Andy kept a close eye on him.

Puck rolled his eyes then turned to Meredith. "Do you have a boating license?"

"Yeah. We both do" Meredith said with a nod towards Andy.

"What'd you have to do for that?" Puck asked.

"Write a test" Meredith said. "But it was easy. We wrote it a few years ago."

"Neat" Puck said.

"Faster!" Finn shouted with a childish grin.

"Finn, this is as fast as it goes" Meredith laughed.

After they went around a bit longer, Meredith directed the boat towards shore. When they were close enough, Finn reluctantly had to get off and help Artie back into his raft so they can get back to shore.

"Thanks guys" Artie said as they pushed him towards the sand.

"No prob, bro" Finn said.

* * *

An hour later, the last group returned from their boat excursion.

Meredith and Andy didn't come back to shore because they were going to drive the boat all the way around the bend and back to the pier. So when they dropped the last group off, the teens from New Direction stood as close to the water as possible and waved and shouted their eternal gratitude.

"THANK YOU!" they shouted all together.

Meredith and Andy waved back and Meredith shouted something, but it was hard to hear.

They kept waving until Meredith and Andy turned away, Meredith started the boat's motor, and they boated away, leaving a trail of white capped water.

"They're so nice" Tina said when they walked back to their pile of towels and bags.

"Yeah" Rachel said. She turned to Kurt, who was the closest male to her. "How's the hole you guys were digging?"

"Godly" Kurt smiled at his own joke.

"What?" Santana asked.

"There's a hole so it's holy, so I said 'Godly'" Kurt explained. "Does thou comprehend?"

Santana rolled her eyes. "No need to get sassy with me, Lady Hummel."

"Can I jump in the hole?" Sugar asked, standing by the edge and peering in.

"Go for it" Blaine said. "But don't jump, just climb in carefully."

Sugar got in the hole and so did all the girls and a few of the guys. Mercedes took pictures of them all. As Sam was climbing out of the hole, he ended up accidentally caving it in and so they filled it in fully again.

"I'm all sandy" Rachel said.

"Well I'm all Danny" Blaine joked.

"I got that joke!" Finn grinned at Blaine.

"Let's go in the water and get this sand all off. Besides, I'm really hot" Mercedes said.

"You sure are" Sam winked at her.

So they waded into the water, wincing at how cold it was.

"Why can't this be a hot tub?" Sugar asked but no one responded.

"Who's up for a game of Marco Polo?" Finn asked.

"Me!" Rachel was the first to scream it, and was echoed by several others.

* * *

They lay on the beach, in a long line. After they swam around and enjoyed the crisp, cool water, they got out and just lay on their towels. Since it was getting later, the beach was slowly getting emptier. None of the group wanted to go back to the cottage yet. So they just lay there. They weren't even talking at points. There were a few small quiet conversations going on between two people. Kurt and Blaine, for one, had both eased back into their normal relationship and were whispering together. And Tina and Quinn were talking too.

"Are you still mad at us?" Tina asked quietly.

Quinn sort of grunted in reply.

"We didn't mean any harm, Quinn. We just thought..."

"Just thought what? Just thought that I sleep around with every single guy I talk to?" Quinn asked in a harsh hushed tone.

That was exactly what they all thought, but Tina had enough tact to lie. "No, of course not. You just never said anything and you and Artie both seemed really happy, so we assumed that there was more than what we saw."

Quinn frowned. "So why didn't you ask?"

Tina shrugged. "I can't speak for the others because it's not like we got together and discussed this or anything, but I guess we just didn't find it that big of a deal."

Quinn didn't say anything.

"Please don't be mad. We all love you, no matter who you're dating. And I'm sorry for assuming things. Next time, we'll sit you down and full out have an intervention and we'll get it on film and we'll have Rachel take down the minutes and it'll be fine."

Quinn was smiling at this. "What about unbiased witnesses? Will you have those too?"

Tina laughed. "Maybe we will."

"Okay. And for the record, I'm not mad. I wasn't really mad, I was just annoyed."

"Good" Tina said. "Besides, you don't wanna spend your last day being annoyed at the people who love you more than anything."

"No, you're right, I don't."

"Ay!" A call came from behind them.

They all sat up and turned around. Will was at the top of the stairs, smiling down at them.

"Dinner will be ready soon" he called. "So don't stay down there too long."

"We won't" Rachel shouted.

Will gave two thumbs up then walked away, back to the cottage.

"Shall we head up now then?" Mercedes asked.

"We shall" Blaine nodded. They slowly stood up and gathered up their things. They made their way up to the cottage and made sure to hose any leftover sand off themselves before going inside.

"Okay ladies" Rachel said to Tina and Santana in a low voice. "Time is bearing down. We have to get everything ready."

"We got this" Santana said. "We just have to clean up around. The good thing is, we can probably get Puck to do some of it."

Tina grinned evilly. "I don't think either of you know how pumped I am for this."

* * *

**A/N**

**Hiya! This is the last chapter of blibber-blabber before the prank which I know is what you're waiting for. It's probably the only reason you're still reading this. Anyhoo, thanks to this magical thing called 'Summer Vacation' I am almost done writing the next chapter. The prank is in progress. I also try and teach you a new card game. Yaaaaay. I got a few of you saying Spoons was fun so I figured I'd share another. **

**Thanks for sticking around and in case there was any doubt, I love you. **

**Follow me on the Tweeter at AVeryMagicGleek or check out my blog that is all about Glee.**

**gleerificnewsstop{dot}wordpress{dot}com**


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